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NauenThen

The Dark Years II

More quotes from Diary of the Dark Years, 1940-1944: Collaboration, Resistance, and Daily Life in Occupied Paris:

... the most dangerous of invasions... the invasion of the inner life, infinitely more dangerous than a territorial invasion or occupation. (quoting poet Charles Péguy)

I will never believe that men are made for war. But I know they are not made for servitude, either.

We all know very well that democracy in this country was not sufficiently real for the conscience of all our citizens to be moved by the scheming, cheating, and intrigues that teams of politicians have indulged in for the past twenty years.

The greatest misfortune that could befall this country would be that out of weariness and disgust—out of a kind of remorse too, at not having made good use of its liberty for years—the country should rush into moronic servitude or let itself be slowly imprisoned of its own volition.

Stupidity and hypocrisy reign triumphant—the Moral Order, the virtue of the rich. The bourgeois ladies are rejoicing. In the market, they won't have to compete for chickens with women in house dresses anymore. At last, everyone will be able to eat according to his rank.

For one group of Frenchmen, the misfortune of France is the occasion of a victory it hardly dared imagine. The republic lost: so they won.

... systems that put administrating things over educating people. There are no more peoples, there are no more men—only the masses.

Cowardice masquerading as common sense.


I'll type up more one of these days....
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