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Murder is unique in that it abolishes the party it injures, so that society has to take the place of the victim and on his behalf demand atonement or grant forgiveness; it is the one crime in which society has a direct interest.
W.H. AUDEN, The Dyer's Hand
Murder in the murderer is no such ruinous thought as poets and romancers will have it; it does not unsettle him, or fright him from his ordinary notice of trifles: it is an act quite easy to be contemplated, but in its sequel, it turns out to be a horrible jangle and confounding of all relations.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
It's only in love and in murder that we still remain sincere.
FRIEDRICH DÜRRENMATT, Incident at Twilight
I say a murder is abstract. You pull the trigger and after that you do not understand anything that happens.
JEAN-PAUL SARTRE, Dirty Hands
- Murder’s out of tune,
- And sweet revenge grows harsh.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Othello
I was in the war. I know how to kill. I was over there. I know how to do it. I've done it before. It's no big deal. You just make an adjustment. You convince yourself it's all right. That's all. It's easy. You just slaughter them.
SAM SHEPARD, Curse of the Starving Class
If your work is deathwork, one weapon is not enough, just as a plumber would not answer an urgent service call with a single wrench.
Even in killing men, observe the rules of propriety.
CONFUCIUS, The Wisdom of Confucius
If we believe that murder is wrong and not admissible in our society, then it has to be wrong for everyone, not just individuals but governments as well.
HELEN PREJEAN, Dead Man Walking
Man kills without ceasing, to nourish himself; but since in addition he needs to kill for pleasure, he has invented the chase! The child kills the insects he finds, the little birds, all the little animals that come in his way. But this does not suffice for the irresistible need of massacre that is in us. It is not enough to kill beasts; we must kill man too. Long ago this need was satisfied by human sacrifice. Now, the necessity of living in society has made murder a crime. We condemn and punish the assassin! But as we cannot live without yielding to this natural and imperious instinct of death, we relieve ourselves from time to time, by wars. Then a whole nation slaughters another nation. It is a feast of blood, a feast that maddens armies and intoxicates the civilians, women and children, who read, by lamplight at night, the feverish story of massacre.
GUY DE MAUPASSANT, "The Diary of a Madman
Murder is not some fictional conceit, imagined for the purpose of entertainment, but actually happens: and afterwards no credits roll, and life has to continue to be lived even if you have absolutely no idea where the deeds to the house are kept, or who services the lawn mower.
MICHAEL MARSHALL, Blood of Angels
The sentence of the first murderer was pronounced by the Supreme Judge of the universe. Was it death? No, it was life. "A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth;" and "Whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold."
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, Table-Talk
When I hear about people murdering, I wonder, What has to go through your brain to say, I don't want him breathing anymore? What makes you get that angry? How can you take someone's breath away? That just blows my mind.
GILBERT ARENAS, Esquire, Apr. 2010
Killing is not nearly as easy as the innocent believe.
J. K. ROWLING, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
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