Un premier exemple de dignité ainsi entendue pourrait être le simple fait de rester propre, alors même que tout pousse à l’attitude contraire : l’eau… - Tzvetan Todorov

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.

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.

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.