Society and the World

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down! Long has it waved on high, And many an eye has danced to see That banner in the sky; Beneath it rung the battle shout, And burst the cannon’s roar— The meteor of the ocean air Shall sweep the clouds no more.

 

Against stupidity the very gods Themselves contend in vain. 6

 

If you want to know yourself, Just look how others do it; If you want to understand others, Look into your own heart.

 

World history is the world’s court. 2

 

World history is the world’s court. 2

 

Joy, thou spark from Heav’n immortal, Daughter of Elysium! Drunk with fire, toward Heaven advancing Goddess, to thy shrine we come. Thy sweet magic brings together What stern Custom spreads afar; All men become brothers Where thy happy wing-beats are. 1

 

Joy, thou spark from Heav’n immortal, Daughter of Elysium! Drunk with fire, toward Heaven advancing Goddess, to thy shrine we come. Thy sweet magic brings together What stern Custom spreads afar; All men become brothers Where thy happy wing-beats are. 1

 

Foolish men who accuse a woman mindlessly— you cannot even see you cause what you abuse.

 

Foolish men who accuse a woman mindlessly— you cannot even see you cause what you abuse.

 

Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small. 1

 

Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small. 1

 

Armed peace.

 

Armed peace.

 

Teach us, good Lord, to serve Thee as Thou deservest: To give and not to count the cost; To fight and not to heed the wounds; To toil and not to seek for rest; To labor and not ask for any reward Save that of knowing that we do Thy will.

 

London, thou art the flower of Cities all.

 

Kingdoms are but cares, State is devoid of stay; Riches are ready snares, And hasten to decay.

 

J’accuse .

Another ancient and extensive class of languages, united by a greater number of resemblances than can well be altogether accidental, may be denominated the Indo-european, comprehending the Indian, the West Asiatic, and almost all the European languages.

The true birthplace is that wherein for the first time one looks intelligently upon oneself; my first homelands have been books.

Goddamit, look! We live here and they livethere. We black and they white. They got thingsand we ain’t. They do things and we can’t. It’s just like living in jail.

Who knows when some slight shock, disturbing the delicate balance between social order and thirsty aspiration, shall send the skyscrapers in our cities toppling?

One great society alone on Earth,

Further, the war—our waiting while the knives sharpen for the operation—has taken away the outer wall of security. . . . We pour to the edgeof a precipice . . . and then? I can’t conceive that there will be a 27th June 1941.

[ Final diary entry :] Occupation is essential. Andnow with some pleasure I find that it’s seven; and must cook dinner. Haddock and sausage meat. I think it is true that one gains a certain hold on sausage and haddock by writing them down.