Cruelty, like every other vice, requires no motive outside of itself; it only requires opportunity

Cruelty, like every other vice, requires no motive outside of itself; it only requires opportunity

In order to get power and retain it, it is necessary to love power; but love of power is not read more

In order to get power and retain it, it is necessary to love power; but love of power is not connected with goodness but with qualities that are the opposite of goodness, such as pride, cunning and cruelty

Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn!

Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn!

One of the ill effects of cruelty is that it makes the bystanders cruel

One of the ill effects of cruelty is that it makes the bystanders cruel

The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the
bear, but because it gave pleasure to the read more

The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the
bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.

I would love to see the grimace he [Marquis de Cinq-Mars] is now
making on the scaffold.
[Fr., read more

I would love to see the grimace he [Marquis de Cinq-Mars] is now
making on the scaffold.
[Fr., Je voudrais bien voir la grimace qu'il fait a cette heure
sur cet echafaud.]

Lady, you are the cruell'st she alive
If you will these graces to the grave,
And leave read more

Lady, you are the cruell'st she alive
If you will these graces to the grave,
And leave the world no copy.

All cruelty springs from hard-heartedness and weakness.

All cruelty springs from hard-heartedness and weakness.

Cruelty is fed, not weakened, by tears

Cruelty is fed, not weakened, by tears