Frankenstein Quotes
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Source: Frankenstein
Author: Mary Shelley
"One man's life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought"
One man's life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought, for the dominion I should acquire and transmit over the elemental foes of our race.
Context
Here we are in Letter 4: Robert Walton is writing to his sister about how important his ambitions are.
It's never a good sign when you start telling people that it's not a big deal if someone dies, as long as you fulfill your scientific goal. Walton is about two and a half steps away from full-on mad scientist here. Foreshadowing much?
Yeah, it's no coincidence that he's about to introduce mad scientist extraordinare, Victor Frankenstein.
Where you've heard it
Let's hope you've never heard this before.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Claiming that your academic goals are more important than someone's life? We'll go ahead and call that pretentious.