Tzvetan Todorov Quotes

Toda obra, toda novela, narra a través de la trama de los acontecimientos la historia de su propia creación, su propia historia.

For the same reason , the American government has invented a completely new juridical category , that of 'illegal enemy combatants'. In general, the perpetrators of violence against the population clearly fall into two groups which, once they have been arrested, come under different jurisdictions, but still possess certain rights. In times of peace, they are criminals, protected in every state of law by habeas corpus, defended by lawyers, and judged in accord with the law. In times of war, they are enemy soldiers who, if captured, must be treated in accord with international Conventions. In what category are we to classify the terrorist of Al-Qaeda? Since they do not belong to the regular of a country that has signed the conventions of Geneva, they cannot claim the protection of those conventions. So do they fall under ordinary legislation? It is here that the formula' war on terror' shows how useful it is: since there is a 'war' going on, the laws of peacetime do not apply; but since this war is not being waged on anther country, international conventions do not come into it either! And since this 'war' can never end, the government that declares it is placing itself for an indefinite period above national laws, as well as above international norms.

"It is no longer necessary to resort to the power of a state in order to inflict heavy losses on your enemy, since a few highly motivated individuals with even a minimum of financial resources are enough."Hostile Forces" have completely changed their appearance."

American society has always exercised a stronger pressure on individual behavior than Western European societies; but in time of war this pressure is notched a few degrees, and starts to become quite alarming.

A maxim for the twenty-first century might well be to start not by fighting evil in the name of good, but by attacking the certainties of people who claim always to know where good and evil are to be found. We should struggle not against the devil himself but what allows the devil to live — Manichaean thinking itself.

Pride is not a wise counselor. People who believe themselves to be the incarnation of good have a distorted view of the world. The absence of any obstacle to the deployment of strength is dangerous for the strong themselves: passion takes precedence over reason. "No power without limit can be legitimate," as Montesquieu wrote long ago. Political wisdom does not consist in seeking only immediate victory, nor does it require systematic preference of "us" over "them."

Democracy brought to others through the barrel of a gun is not democracy; to impose it by force is to undermine it.

Nothing is more commonplace than the reading experience, and yet nothing is more unknown. Reading is such a matter of course that at first glance it seems there is nothing to say about it.

Lorsqu’on lui fit élever des murs de protection contre les bombes, il les fit bien droits, solides, avec des briques bien décalées et tout le mortier qu’il fallait, non par obéissance aux ordres, mais par amour-propre professionnel » (Naufragés, 121). C’est pour cette raison qu’est particulièrement avilissant un travail absurde : transporter du sable d’abord à droite, puis à gauche, creuser un trou, ensuite le combler ; il est impossible de faire un tel travail bien, et donc de garder le respect de soi.

Il est donc possible d’introduire une distinction au milieu des héros et des saints : entre ceux qui désirent que les êtres humains soient les bénéficiaires de leur action – et ceux qui les oublient, n’aspirant qu’à avoir un comportement conforme à l’idéal d’héroïsme ou de sainteté.

Ce que l’extrême et l’ordinaire ont également en commun, c’est que, ici comme là, la majorité des individus opte pour les valeurs vitales, et quelques-uns seulement choisissent l’autre voie. Ou peut-être : la plupart du temps, chaque individu opte pour les valeurs vitales ; mais n’ignore pas pour autant les réactions morales.

La mort seule – la sienne propre comme celle des autres – permet d’atteindre l’absolu : en sacrifiant sa vie, on prouve qu’on chérit son idéal plus qu’elle.

This general xenophobia is strengthened by what has to be called Islamophobia, even if this term is sometimes used improperly. The two forms of rejection overlap only partially: Islamophobia concerns only one kind of immigrant, but it does not stop at a country’s frontiers; nevertheless, most immigrants in Europe today are indeed of Muslim origin. Now, attacking immigrants is not politically correct, whereas criticizing Islam is perceived as an act of courage; so the latter can be found in place of the former.

pidió a Alvarado que no le quemasen, sino que le ahorcasen

Le fait que c’était la mort des autres, quels qu’ils soient, qui signifiait notre vie n’était plus en question » (Sereny, 227). Les liens familiaux même les plus proches ne résistent pas à ce combat pour la survie : Borowski raconte comment une mère, pour sauver sa vie, fait semblant de ne pas reconnaître son enfant ; Elie Wiesel, survivant d’Auschwitz, a décrit dans Nuit comment le fils arrache le pain des mains de son père ou comment lui-même se sent soulagé à la mort de son père, voyant augmenter ainsi ses chances de survie.