Men Among the Ruins Quotes

“Nothing is more evident than that modern capitalism is just as subversive as Marxism. The materialistic view of life on which both systems are based is identical; both of their ideals are qualitatively identical, including the premises connected to a world the centre of which is constituted of technology, science, production, "productivity," and "consumption." And as long as we only talk about economic classes, profit, salaries, and production, and as long as we believe that real human progress is determined by a particular system of distribution of wealth and goods, and that, generally speaking, human progress is measured by the degree of wealth or indigence—then we are not even close to what is essential...”
― Julius Evola, Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist

“For the authentic revolutionary conservative, what really counts is to be faithful not to past forms and institutions, but rather to principles of which such forms and institutions have been particular expressions, adequate for a specific period of time and in a specific geographical area.”
― Julius Evola, Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist

“There is a superior unity of all those who despite all, fight in different parts of the world the same battle, lead the same revolt, and are the bearers of the same intangible Tradition. These forces appear to be scattered and isolated in the world, and yet are inexorably connected by a common essence that is meant to preserve the absolute ideal of the Imperium and to work for its return.”
― Julius Evola, Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist

“The substance of every true and stable political organism is something resembling an Order, a Männerbünd in charge of the principle of the imperium, comprising men who see loyalty as the basis of their honor.”
― Julius Evola, Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist

“The essential task ahead requires formulating an adequate doctrine, upholding principles that have been thoroughly studied, and, beginning from these, giving birth to an Order. This elite, differentiating itself on a plane that is defined in terms of spiritual virility, decisiveness, and impersonality, and where every naturalistic bond loses its power and value, will be the bearer of a new principle of a higher authority and sovereignty; it will be able to denounce subversion and demagogy in whatever form they appear and reverse the downward spiral of the top-level cadres and the irresistible rise to power of the masses. From this elite, as if from a seed, a political organism and an integrated nation will emerge, enjoying the same dignity as the nations created by the great European political tradition. Anything short of this amounts only to a quagmire, dilettantism, irrealism, and obliquity.”
― Julius Evola, Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist

“Contrary to what the bourgeois and liberal polemics claim, the warrior idea may not be reduced to materialism, nor is it synonymous with the exaltation of the brutal use of strength and destructive violence. Rather, the calm, conscious, and planned development of the inner being and a code of ethics; love of distance; hierarchy; order; the faculty of subordinating the emotional and individualistic element of one’s self to higher goals and principles, especially in the name of honor and duty – these are the elements of the warrior idea, and they act as the foundations of a specific “style” that has largely been lost.”
― Julius Evola, Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist

“Capitalismul modern este la fel de subversiv ca marxismul. Perspectiva materialistă a vieții pe care ambele sisteme sunt bazate este identică; ambele lor idealuri sunt identice calitativ, inclusiv prin premisa conform căreia lumea s-ar învârti în jurul tehnologiei, științei, producției, productivității și consumului. Câtă vreme vorbim despre clase economice, profit, salarii, producție și câtă vreme considerăm că progresul umanității este determinat de un anumit sistem de distribuție a banilor și a bunurilor și că, în general vorbind, progresul umanității se măsoară în nivelul de bogăție sau sărăcie — atunci înseamnă că nici măcar nu ne-am apropiat de ceea ce este esențial în viață.”
― Julius Evola, Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist

“The occult war is a battle that is waged imperceptibly by the forces of global subversion, with means and in circumstances ignored by current historiography. The notion of occult war belongs to a three-dimensional view of history: this viewdoes not regard as essential the two superficial dimensions of time and space (which include causes, facts, and visible leaders) but rather emphasizes the dimension of depth, or the "subterranean" dimension in which forces and influences often act in a decisive manner, and which, more often not than not, cannot be reduced to what is merely human, whether at an individual or a collective level”
― Julius Evola, Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist

“Any vital, individual, social, or moral process that goes in this direction and leads to the fulfillment of the person according to his own nature is truly ascending.”
― Julius Evola, Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist