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Martha Gellhorn

Martha Gellhorn Quotes

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Famous Martha Gellhorn Quotes

“The men in Washington seem unable to accept that there are more poor people than rich peoplele in the world. They do not recognize that poor people, in the late twentieth century, cannot endure poverty and disease and ignorance forever. When minimal social justice is long denied, the poor will rebel. If rebellion can be crushed - as is perhaps possible in a very small country like El Salvador - it will rise again later. Nicaragua can be bombed flat, and then what? A success story like Vietnam? [1986].”

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Book:The Face of War
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“It is not easy to be the citizen of a Superpower, nor is it getting easier. I would feel isolated with my shame if I were not sure that I belong, among millions of Americans, to a perennial minority of the nation. The obstinate bleeding hearts who will never agree that might makes right and know if the end justifies the means, the end is worthless. Power corrupts, an old truism but why does it also make the powerful so stupid? Their power schemes become unstuck in time, at cruel cost to other; then the powerful put their stupid important heads together and invent the next similar schemes [written 1987].”

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Book:The Face of War
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“perhaps these men in the House Caucus Room [Committee on Un-American Activities] are determined to spread silence: to frighten those voices which will shout no, and ask questions, defend the few, attack cruelty and proclaim the rights and dignity of man. ... America is going to look very strange to Americans and they will not be at home here, for the air will slowly become unbreathable to all forms of life except sheep.”

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Author:Martha Gellhorn
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“Americans did not acquire their fear neurosis as the result of a traumatic experience - war devasting their country, pestilence sweeping the land, famine wiping out helpless millions. Americans had to be taught to hate and fear an unseen enemy. The teachers were men in official positions, in government, men whom Americans normally trust without question.”

MenWarCountryGovernmentHateFearResultsEnemyMillionsUnited StatesTeacherLandPositionTaughtOfficialsAcquireHelplessUnseenFamineNeurosisSweepingTraumatic ExperiencesPestilenceHate And FearWiping Out
Book:The View From The Ground
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“Dachau has been my own lifelong point of no return. Between the moment when I walked through the gate of that prison, with its infamous motto, 'Arbeit Macht Frei,' and when I walked out at the end of a day that had no ordinary scale of hours, I was changed, and how I looked at the human condition, the world we live in, changed ... Years of war had taught me a great deal, but war was nothing like Dachau. Compared to Dachau, war was clean.”

WorldYearsHumansHas BeensWarEndsMomentsHoursMy OwnDealsConditionsChangedTaughtReturnOrdinaryPrisonCleanScalesWar Of The WorldsGatesWorld War IiHolocaustHuman ConditionWorld War IMottoLifelongInfamousDachau
Author:Martha Gellhorn
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“Despite official drivel about clean bombs and tactical nuclear weapons, anyone who can read a newspaper or listen to a radio knows that some of us mortals have the power to destroy the human race and man's home on earth. We need not even make war; only by preparing, by playing with our new weapons, we poison the air, the water, the soil of our plants, damage the health of the living, and weaken the chances of the newborn.”

KnowsMenNeedsHumansWarHomeEarthWaterChanceRaceAirWeaponsCleanPlantRadioNuclearNewspapersDespiteMortalsHuman RaceDamageOfficialsPoisonSoilBombsNuclear WeaponsPreparingNewbornTacticalDrivel
Book:The Face of War
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“It is charming the way everyone in the South says, 'Come back.' This is the regulation farewell at gas stations, soda fountains, general stores, tourist camps. 'Come back,' they call, 'come back.' Do they feel marooned in one place, lost, needing to believe someone will return to share their exile on the similar main streets, in the varied but always new-looking land?”

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Book:The View From The Ground
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“All amateur travellers have experienced horror journeys, long or short, sooner or later, one way or another. As a student of disaster, I note that we react alike to our tribulations: frayed and bitter at the time, proud afterwards. Nothing is better for self-esteem than survival.”

WayLongSelfJourneySelf EsteemStudentsProudHorrorTravelSurvivalNotesDisasterEsteemBitterOne WaySooner Or LaterTravellerTribulation
Book:Travels with Myself and Another: A Memoir
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