Sashin's notes

The natural state of affairs prior to civilisation was that of perpetual violence. Peace was a mere lull between the tides of war. Many processes have unfolded throughout history to pacify our lust for one another's blood, and the dawn of civilisation was one of the most important.

This quote is from Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature which chronicles the decline of violence throughout human history and attempts to explain the causes underlying it.