Was he so sure another war was coming?
"Another war is always coming, Robert. They are never properly extinguished. What sparks wars? The will to power, the backbone of human nature. The threat of violence, the fear of violence, or actual violence is the instrument of this dreadful will. You can see the will to power in bedrooms, kitchens, factories, unions, and the borders of states. Listen to this and remember it. The nation-state is merely human nature inflated to monstrous proportions. QED, nations are entities whose laws are written in violence. Thus is ever was, so ever shall it be. War, Robert, is one of humanity's two eternal companions."
So, I asked, what was the other?
"Diamonds."
-- Cloud Atlas David Mitchell
"Another war is always coming, Robert. They are never properly extinguished. What sparks wars? The will to power, the backbone of human nature. The threat of violence, the fear of violence, or actual violence is the instrument of this dreadful will. You can see the will to power in bedrooms, kitchens, factories, unions, and the borders of states. Listen to this and remember it. The nation-state is merely human nature inflated to monstrous proportions. QED, nations are entities whose laws are written in violence. Thus is ever was, so ever shall it be. War, Robert, is one of humanity's two eternal companions."
So, I asked, what was the other?
"Diamonds."
-- Cloud Atlas David Mitchell
