A History of Violence Quotes

In sixteenth-century Paris, a popular form of entertainment was cat-burning, in which a cat was hoisted in a sling on a stage and slowly lowered into a fire...

"The spectators, including kings and queens, shrieked with laughter as the animals, howling with pain, were singed, roasted, and finally carbonized." 

Norman Davies

From A History of Violence By Steve Pinker

Conventional history has long shown that, in many ways, we have been getting kinder and gentler.

Steve Pinker

People sleep peacably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

George Orwell