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“Hitler or by Goebbels, which made self-deception easier on three counts: it suggested, first, that the war was no war; second, that it was started by destiny and not by Germany; and, third, that it was a matter of life and death for the Germans, who must annihilate their enemies or be annihilated.”
― Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
― Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
“In their moral justification, the argument of the lesser evil has played a prominent role. If you are confronted with two evils, the argument runs, it is your duty to opt for the lesser one, whereas it is irresponsible to refuse to choose altogether. Its weakness has always been that those who choose the lesser evil forget quickly that they chose evil.”
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“Men have been found to resist the most powerful monarchs and to refuse to bow down before them, but few indeed have been found to resist the crowd, to stand up alone before misguided masses, to face their implacable frenzy without weapons and with folded arms to dare a no when a yes is demanded. Such a man was Zola!”
― The Origins of Totalitarianism
― The Origins of Totalitarianism
“The argument that we cannot judge if we were not present and involved ourselves seems to convince everyone everywhere, although it seems obvious that if it were true, neither the administration of justice nor the writing of history would ever be possible.”
― Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
― Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
“Good can be radical; evil can never be radical, it can only be extreme, for it possesses neither depth nor any demonic dimension yet-and this is its horror-it can spread like a fungus over the surface of the earth and lay waste the entire world.
Evil comes from a failure to think. It defies thought for as soon as thought tries to engage itself with evil and examine the premises and principles from which it originates, it is frustrated because it finds nothing there. That is the banality of evil.”
― Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
Evil comes from a failure to think. It defies thought for as soon as thought tries to engage itself with evil and examine the premises and principles from which it originates, it is frustrated because it finds nothing there. That is the banality of evil.”
― Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
Eden’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Eden’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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