The Paradox of a Warrior’s Heart

Daniel Maclise (1806 - 1870) - The Combat of Two Knights

This was so beautiful and on target that I thought I’d re-post it here so I can find it again. A fellow going by Abject Man posted this as a response to my review of Sam Sheridan’s A Fighter’s Heart on The Spearhead.

Here’s the paradox of the Warrior’s heart:

I remember the remarkable reasoning of German biologist (of the ’40s) regarding doves and wolves.

He observes, when rival doves are confined into a small space, they peck at each other do death. That’s because they have evolved to be timid, and normally fly away to avoid conflict. So, he infers, they have not developed a sense of “mercy.”

Wolves, on the other hand, are fierce warriors. And yet, when a wolf exposes its neck to its rival during a fight, the fighting stops. He concludes, only those who know how to fight, i.e. who face the bloody consequences of a ruthless fight, develop a sense of mercy.

Kind hearts belong to warrior types, not sissies. Sissies are, paradoxically, the most sociopathic and narcissistic.

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5 Responses to “The Paradox of a Warrior’s Heart”

1. Max says:

   December 8, 2009 at 2:55 pm

   Nietzsche talks specifically about the difference between mercy and pity – mercy coming from a position of strength, and pity coming from weakness.

   Western culture may be failing, but the west is still strong. It would have to be, to be able to forgive and ignore as much as it does.
2. Renee says:

   December 9, 2009 at 11:44 am

   Beautiful piece. It really resonates with me. I never thought of it this way…heck it wasn’t something I thought about on a regular basis lol.

   Sidenote here:
   I posted a question under your “Suicides” post over at the Spearhead. I didn’t know whether you knew or not, or that you just didn’t feel like answering the question
3. The post that was originally called “short men vs fat women” says:

   December 9, 2009 at 9:52 pm

   [...] it wasn’t until this afternoon that I read a post over on Jack Donovan’s blog entitled The Paradox of a Warrior’s Heart and something clicked in my head regarding an idea I had about short men and fat women which had [...]
4. shâmtia ayômide says:

   December 11, 2009 at 5:18 pm

   Nice post man, my friend Rant Casey translated it to Portuguese

   http://reflexoes-masculinas.blogspot.com/2009/12/coracao-de-guerreiro.html
5. Linkage is Good for You: Thievery Edition | In Mala Fide says:

   December 13, 2009 at 2:53 pm

   [...] Jack Donovan – “The Paradox of a Warrior’s Heart” [...]