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Sociologists and historians have avoided looking for the family sources of wars and social violence. Whenever a group produces murderers, the early parental relationship must have been abusive and neglectful. Yet this elementary truth has not even begun to be considered in historical research; just stating that poor mothering lies behind wars seems blasphemous.

— Lloyd deMause The Emotional Life of Nations (2002)

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More quotes by Lloyd deMause

It is no wonder that historians have chosen to hide, deny and whitewash the record here uncovered.

The Emotional Life of Nations (2002)

Psychohistory, as a science, will always be problem-centered, while history will always remain period-centered. They are simply two different tasks.

Foundations of Psychohistory (1982)

Most ethnologists scrupulously avoid describing how these children feel about participating in the killing or eating of their siblings.

The Emotional Life of Nations (2002)

Most historians have been as little able to feel empathy for infants sent to wet nurses as the mothers themselves were.

The Emotional Life of Nations (2002)

Anthropologists have concluded that "child abuse...is virtually unknown" in New Guinea.

The Emotional Life of Nations (2002)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Lloyd deMause (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.