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John Hersey Quotes

Writer

John Hersey was an American writer born on June 17, 1914, and died on March 24, 1993. Known for his profound insight into human nature and his deep reflections on war and peace.

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All Hiroshima Writing Firsts War Atomic Bomb Weapons Bombs Chinese Deals Desks Fall Fifteen Form Giving Hiroshima And Nagasaki Materials Moments Next Picks Satisfied

Famous John Hersey Quotes

“What has kept the world safe from the bomb since 1945 has been the memory of what happened at Hiroshima. – John Hersey, quoted in Fallout by Lesley Blume”

Memory Atomic Bomb Hiroshima Nuclear Warfare

Author:John Hersey

“Journalism allows its readers to witness history; fiction gives its readers an opportunity to live it.”

Giving Writing Opportunity Fiction Reader Journalism Witness Hiroshima

Author:John Hersey

“The crux of the matter is whether total war in its present form is justifiable, even when it serves a just purpose. Does it not have material and spiritual evil as its consequences which far exceed whatever good might result? When will our moralists give us an answer to this question?”

Giving Doe War Matter Might Spiritual Form Purpose Evil Answers Results Materials Consequence Exceed Total War Hiroshima Moralist Crux

Book:Hiroshima [Illustrated Edition]

Source: Hiroshima [Illustrated Edition]

“Do not work primarily for money; do your duty to patients first and let the money follow; our life is short, we don't live twice; the whirlwind will pick up the leaves and spin them, but then it will drop them and they will form a pile.”

Firsts Form Life Is Our Lives Duty Picks Patient Life Is Short Hiroshima Whirlwind

Book:Hiroshima

Source: Hiroshima

“Learning starts with failure; the first failure is the beginning of education.”

Firsts Teach Hiroshima

Book:The Child Buyer

Source: The Child Buyer

“There, in the tin factory, in the first moment of the atomic age, a human being was crushed by books.”

Firsts Humans Book Moments Age Human Beings Factories Crushed Tin Hiroshima

Author:John Hersey

“It's a failure of national vision when you regard children as weapons, and talents as materials you can mine, assay, and fabricate for profit and defense.”

Children Fall Vision Talent Mines Materials Weapons Regard Profit Defense Hiroshima Fabricate

Book:The Child Buyer

Source: The Child Buyer

“At exactly fifteen minutes past eight in the morning, on August 6, 1945, Japanese time, at the moment when the atomic bomb flashed above Hiroshima, Miss Toshiko Sasaki, a clerk in the personnel department of the East Asia Tin Works, had just sat down at her place in the plant office and was turning her head to speak to the girl at the next desk.”

Moments Past Girl Next Speak Morning Minutes Missing Office Weapons Plant Eight East Sat Bombs Department Fifteen Desks Asia August Atomic Bomb Tin Clerks Personnel Hiroshima East Asia

Book:Hiroshima

Source: Hiroshima

“What has kept the world safe from the bomb since 1945 has not been deterrence, in the sense of fear of specific weapons, so much as it's been memory. The memory of what happened at Hiroshima.”

World War Memories Happened Safe Weapons Bombs Hiroshima Hiroshima And Nagasaki Deterrence

Author:John Hersey

About the Author

Born: June 17, 1914
Died: March 24, 1993
Known for: Writer
Quotes: 27

Books & Sources

HiroshimaRelated source material

The Child BuyerRelated source material

A Single PebbleRelated source material

Hiroshima [Illustrated Edition]Related source material

Fling and Other StoriesRelated source material

Letter to the alumniRelated source material

The writer's craftRelated source material

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