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The world will probably be destroyed again, unless we repent. And don't think you can hide from the angels. They start out as ordinary people, and you never know which ones. Suddenly god put the power of destruction in their hands, and they destroy. And just as suddenly, when all the destruction is done, the angels leaves them, and they're ordinary people

Orson Scott Card#755

PowerMoralityFearDestruction

About this quote

What does it mean?
Destruction may come from within when ordinary people are given power they cannot control. Repentance is framed as the only safeguard against this cycle.
In plain terms
Ordinary people can become destroyers if given sudden power, and hiding from them is impossible.
What can you take from it?
Be wary of those who suddenly hold power over destruction.

Where it applies

  • political upheaval
  • moral warnings
  • fantasy narratives

Putting it to work

  • reflect on power dynamics
  • consider consequences of actions

Questions to consider

  • Who holds power in your life?
  • How do you respond to sudden change?

Another view

The quote assumes a specific theological or supernatural context not universally accepted.

More from Orson Scott Card

  1. There was other folks who had a way of sucking you to them, without saying a thing, without doing a thing, you just went into a room and couldn't take your eye…

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  2. She was sure [he] would follow her. [he] would bend to her as he had always bent, resilient and accommodating

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  3. God destroyed the world before. Once in a flood, when Noah rode it out in the ark. And once the tower of the worlds pride was destroyed in the confusion of ton…

    Permalink to quote #753

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