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Quote by Thomas Mann

“That time will have come when our prison, which though extensive is nonetheless cramped and filled with suffocatingly stale air, has opened-that is, when the war raging at present has come to an end, one way or the other. And how that "or the other" sets me in terror of both myself and the awful straits into which fate has squeezed the German heart! For in fact I have only "the other" in mind; I am relying on it, counting solely on it, against my conscience as a citizen. After all, never-failing public indoctrination has made sure that we are profoundly aware of the crushing consequences, in all their irrevocable horror, of a German defeat, so that we cannot help fearing it more than anything else in the world. And yet there is something that some of us fear-at certain moments that seem criminal even to ourselves, whereas others fear it quite frankly and permanently-fear more than a German defeat, and that is a German victory. I hardly dare ask myself to which of these two persuasions I belong. Perhaps to a third, in which one yearns for defeat constantly and consciously, but with unrelenting agony of conscience.”

Book:Doctor Faustus

Work

Doctor Faustus

Doctor Faustus is a dramatic narrative that explores the themes of ambition, morality, and the consequences of selling one's soul to the devil. more

Author

Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann, born on June 6, 1875, and died on August 12, 1955, was a German novelist and one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Known for his profound psychological portrayals and rich imagination, his works extensively covered themes such as individual and society, history and reality. His masterpieces include 'Buddenbrooks' and 'The Magic Mountain'. more

“Some People Some people flee some other people. In some country under a sun and some clouds. They abandon something close to all they’ve got, sown fields, some chickens, dogs, mirrors in which fire now preens. Their shoulders bear pitchers and bundles. The emptier they get, the heavier they grow. What happens quietly: someone’s dropping from exhaustion. What happens loudly: someone’s bread is ripped away, someone tries to shake a limp child back to life. Always another wrong road ahead of them, always another wrong bridge across an oddly reddish river. Around them, some gunshots, now nearer, now farther away, above them a plane seems to circle. Some invisibility would come in handy, some grayish stoniness, or, better yet, some nonexistence for a shorter or a longer while. Something else will happen, only where and what. Someone will come at them, only when and who, in how many shapes, with what intentions. If he has a choice, maybe he won’t be the enemy and will leave them to some sort of life.”

Life Poetry Oppression

Book:Monologue of a Dog: New Poems

Source: Monologue of a Dog: New Poems

“Stronger the military, stupider the citizens. Louder the ammunition, lousier the education. Mightier the missiles, measlier the minds. Sharper the snipers, sicklier the spines.”

War Military Anti War Nonviolence World Peace Peace On Earth Peace Activist Disarmament War And Peace Demilitarization

Book:The Humanitarian Dictator

Source: The Humanitarian Dictator

“And if your opponent was not human, if your opponent was a cockroach, what did it matter how many of them you killed? What was the difference between crushing an ant and setting an anthill on fire? Why shouldn’t you pull wings off insects for your own enjoyment? The bug might feel pain, but what did that matter to you?”

War Warfare The Poppy War

Author:R.F Kaung

“But the further you are away from it, the more war reads like arithmetic, and past that it reads like fiction, past that it’s just an annoying video on your info stream. How could they possibly imagine the anguish on the faces of the dead? How could the mob in the street demanding handouts ever know on a sensory level that when a human rots, it isn’t just the skin that stinks, but the intestines, the stomach, the liver?”