"Sadism is plainly connected with the need for self-assertion. At the same time it cannot be separated from the idea of defeat. A sadist is a man, who, in some sense, has his back to the wall. Nothing is further from sadism, for example, than the cheerful, optimistic mentality of a Shaw or Wells."
React to this quote
More by Colin Wilson
See allResonant Thoughts
"To attempt the destruction of our passions is the height of folly. What a noble aim is that of the zealot who tortures himself like a madman in order to desire nothing, love nothing, feel nothing, and…"
"So indurated was I at that time to the abomination of the place, that I heard without a touch of emotion the puma victim begin another day of torture. It met its persecutor with a shriek, almost exact…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"There was nothing for it but to pace through just behind or ahead of the spooling present that was never th…"
— Kim Stanley Robinson"Fishing is a jerk at one end of a line waiting for a jerk at the other end of a line."
— Peter Corey"Firoz Tughlaq had issued an order that whichever places were sacked, in them the captives should be sorted …"
— Firuz Shah Tughlaq"After all, this is a guy that tried to kill my dad at one time."
— George W. Bush"Lir chiseled at the stone. It would take a month to make a perceptible impression on it. He had a few hours…"
— Tanith Lee"But there is an even more potent cause for the near total erasure of such material from our public discours…"
— Arun Shourie
