’ “But every time there have been conquests there have been conquerors; every time there has been a revolution in any state there have been great men,” ‘ says history. And indeed, every time conquerors appear there have been wars, human reason replies, but this does not prove that the conquerors caused the wars and that it is possible to find the laws of a war in the personal activity of a single man.

In the West they're afraid of collective experiences, they always individualize things. But in Hamletmachine there are lots of Hamlets.

Me-ti found only a few hints about the behaviour of individuals in the classical writings. They mostly spoke about classes or other large groups of people. On the other hand, he found that the historical point of view was praised as very useful. Hence he recommended, after thinking about it carefully, that the individual should consider himself just like the classes and large groups of people in historical terms, and behave historically. Life lived as material for a biography acquires a certain importance and can make history. When the military commander, Ju Seser [Julius Caesar], wrote his memoirs, he wrote about himself in the third person. Me-ti said: You can also live in the third person. (Me-ti: 95)