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World War I

World War I (WWI or WW1), also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. More than 9 million combatants and 7 million civilians died as a result of the war, a casualty rate exacerbated by the belligerents' technological and industrial sophistication, and tactical stalemate. It was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, paving the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved.

The war drew in all the world's economic great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (based on the Triple Entente of the United Kingdom, France and the Russian Empire) and the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war: Italy, Japan and the United States joined the Allies, and the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria the Central Powers (Central Empires/Quadruple Alliance).

Quotes

 * Alphabetized by author

 * If I am asked what we are fighting for, I can reply in two sentences. In the first place, to fulfill a solemn international obligation … an obligation of honor which no self-respecting man could possibly have repudiated. I say, secondly, we are fighting to vindicate the principle that small nationalities are not to be crushed in defiance of international good faith at the arbitrary will of a strong and overmastering Power.
 * H. H. Asquith, Address to Parliament, (6 August 1914); as quoted in Source Records of the Great War, Vol. I, ed. Charles F. Horne, National Alumni (1923)

 * In retrospect, Jean Jaurès and Rosa Luxemburg seem to me the only delegates who, like Adler, realized fully the inevitability of the World War and the horrors it entailed.
 * Angelica Balabanoff, My Life As a Rebel (1938)

 * The First World War shook the scaffolding of progress because it was deadly and unexpectedly long: it showed that technology could be two-faced. The war delivered one other insidious attack on the idea of progress by raising a moral question which the believers in progress had taken for granted: had the morality of Europeans improved during the long era of 'progress'?
 * Geoffrey Blainey, The Great Seesaw: A New View of the Western World, 1750-2000 (1988)

 * If, on the eve of the war, a fortune teller had pointed to all the Australian men between the ages of 20 and 30, and had predicted that a number equal to 60 per cent of that age group would be killed or permanently disabled in the coming war, she would have been ridiculed but she would have been correct.
 * Geoffrey Blainey, The Story of Australia's People: The Rise and Rise of a New Australia (2016)

 * Nothing will bring American sympathy along with us so much as American blood shed in the field.
 * Winston Churchill, first lord of the Admiralty, memorandum to Prime Minister Sir Edward Grey and Lord Kitchener (September 5, 1914); Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis, 1911–1914 (1923), 2d ed., vol. 1, p. 272

 * I think a curse should rest on me — because I love this war. I know it's smashing and shattering the lives of thousands every moment — and yet — I can't help it — I enjoy every second of it.
 * Winston Churchill, A letter to a friend (1916)

 * No compromise on the main purpose; no peace till victory; no pact with unrepentant wrong -- that is the Declaration of July 4th, 1918.
 * Winston Churchill At a joint Anglo-American rally in Westminster, July 4, 1918, speaking against calls for a negotiated truce with Germany. As printed in War aims & peace ideals: selections in prose & verse (1919), edited by Tucker Brooke & Henry Seidel Canby, Yale University Press, p. 138

 * The Great War differed from all ancient wars in the immense power of the combatants and their fearful agencies of destruction, and from all modern wars in the utter ruthlessness with which it was fought. … Europe and large parts of Asia and Africa became one vast battlefield on which after years of struggle not armies but nations broke and ran. When all was over, Torture and Cannibalism were the only two expedients that the civilized, scientific, Christian States had been able to deny themselves: and they were of doubtful utility.
 * Winston Churchill, From The World Crisis, 1911-1918 : Chapter I (The Vials of Wrath), Churchill, Butterworth (1923)

 * After the end of the World War of 1914 there was a deep conviction and almost universal hope that peace would reign in the world. The heart's desire of all the peoples could have easily been gained by steadfastness in righteous convictions, and by reasonable common sense and prudence. The phrase "the war to end war" was on every lip, and measures had been taken to turn it into reality. President Wilson, wielding, as was thought, the authority of the United States, had made the conception of a League of Nations dominant in all minds. The British Delegation at Versailles moulded and shaped his idea into an Instrument which will for ever constitute a milestone in the hard march of man. The victorious Allies were at that time all-powerful, so far as their outside enemies were concerned. They had to face grave internal difficulties and many riddles to which they did not know the answer, but the Teutonic Powers in the great mass of Central Europe were prostrate before them, and Russia, already shattered by the German flail, was convulsed by civil war and falling into the grip of the Bolshevik or Communist Party.
 * Winston Churchill, From The Second World War: Volume 1: The Gathering Storm, Churchill, Houghton Mifflin (1948)

 * If you hadn't entered the World War we would have made peace with Germany early in 1917. Had we made peace then there would have been no collapse in Russia followed by communism, no break-down in Italy followed by fascism, and Germany would not have signed the Versailles Treaty, which has enthroned nazi-ism in Germany. In other words, if America had stayed out of the war all of these "isms" wouldn't today be sweeping the Continent of Europe and breaking down parliamentary government, and if England had made peace early in 1917, it would have saved over 1,000,000 British, French, American, and other lives.
 * Attributed to Winston Churchill, but denied by him. William Griffin, sworn statement (September 8, 1939), reprinted in the Congressional Record (October 21, 1939), vol. 84, p. 686. Griffin, publisher of the New York Enquirer, said the conversation had taken place in London during August 1936. Griffin brought a $1,000,000 libel suit against Churchill in October 1939, but the charges were dismissed on October 21, 1942, when Griffin or his lawyers failed to appear when the case was called. At that time Griffin was under indictment in Washington, D.C., on charges of conspiring to lower the morale of the armed forces of this country. In his answer to the suit, Churchill admitted the 1936 interview, but denied the statement. The New York Times (October 22, 1942), p. 13. The proceedings against Griffin were later quashed after a hearing in federal court on January 26, 1944.

 * The protagonists of 1914 were sleepwalkers, watchful but unseeing, haunted by dreams, yet blind to the reality of the horror they were about to bring into the world.
 * Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 (2012)

 * The Nation has need of all that can be contributed to it through the best efforts of all its citizens. The colored people have repeatedly proved their devotion to the high ideals of our country. They gave their services in the war with the same patriotism and readiness that other citizens did. The records of the selective draft show that somewhat more than 2,250,000 colored men were registered. The records further prove that, far from seeking to avoid participation in the national defense, they showed that they wished to enlist before the selective service act was put into operation, and they did not attempt to evade that act afterwards.
 * Calvin Coolidge, as quoted in commencement address at Howard University (6 June 1924), Washington, D.C.

 * The success with which we have met in all of these undertakings is a matter of universal knowledge. We are at peace with all the world. Those of this generation who passed through the World War have had an experience which will always cause them to realize what an infinite blessing peace is. We are in an era of unbounded prosperity. The financial condition of our National Government is beginning to be more easy to be borne. While many other nations and many localities within our own country are struggling with a burden of increased debts and rising taxes, which makes them seek for new sources from which by further taxation they can secure new revenues, we have made large progress toward paying off our national debt, have greatly reduced our national taxes, and been able to relieve the people by abandoning altogether many sources of national revenue. We are not required to look altogether to the future for our rewards and find in our lot nothing but sacrifices for the present. Now, here, to-day, we are all able to enjoy those benefits which come from universal peace and nation-wide prosperity.
 * Calvin Coolidge, as quoted in "Ways to Peace" speech at Arlington (31 May 1926).

 * In all countries, the First World War weakened old orthodoxies and authorities, and, when it was over, neither government nor church nor school nor family had the power to regulate the lives of human beings as it had once done. One result of this was a profound change in manners and morals that made a freer and less restrained society. Women benefited from this as much as anyone else. Time-worn prescriptions concerning what was or was not proper behavior for them no longer possessed much credibility, and taboos about unaccompanied appearances in public places, or the use of liquor or tobacco, or even pre-marital sexual relationships had lost their force. ... [W]omen were no longer as vulnerable to the tyranny of society as they had been [before].
 * Gordon A. Craig, The Germans, (1991), New York: Merdian. p. 161

 * Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?
 * Daniel Daly, in a battle cry at the Battle of Belleau Wood (June 1918)

 * The First World War/It came and it went/The reason for fightin'/I never did get/But I learned to accept it/Accept it with pride/For you don’t count the dead/When God’s on your side
 * Bob Dylan, With God on Our Side 1964

 * The First World War was at once piteous, in the poet's sense, and 'a pity'. It was something worse than a tragedy, which is ultimately something we are taught by the theatre to regard as unavoidable. It was nothing less than the greatest error of modern history.
 * Niall Ferguson, The Pity of War: Explaining World War I (1998)

 * On June 28, 1914 a tubercular nineteen-year-old Bosnian youth named Gavrilo Princip carried out one of the most successful terrorist acts in all history. The shots he fired that day not only severed fatally the jugular vein of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the Habsburg heir to the thrones of Austria and Hungary. They also precipitated a war that destroyed the Austro-Hungarian Empire and transformed Bosnia-Herzegovina from one of its colonies into a part of a new South Slav state. These were in fact more or less precisely the things Princip had hoped to achieve, even if he cannot have anticipated such far-reaching success. Yet these were only the intended consequences of his action. The war he triggered was not confined to the Balkans; it also drew broad and hideous scars across northern Europe and the Near East. Like gargantuan abattoirs, its battlefields sucked in and slaughtered young men from all the extremities of the globe, claiming in all nearly ten million lives. It brought forth new and terrible methods of destruction, hitherto the stuff of Wellsian science-fiction: cavalry charges by armed and armoured vehicles, lethal clouds of poison gas, invisible fleets of submarines. It rained down bombs from the air and cluttered the Atlantic seabed with sunken ships. It lasted longer than any major war in Europe in living memory, dragging on for four and a quarter years. And, besides the Habsburgs, it toppled three other imperial dynasties: the Romanovs, the Hohenzollerns and the Ottomans. Even when an armistice was proclaimed, the war refused to stop; it swept eastwards after 1918, as if eluding the grasp of the peacemakers.
 * Niall Ferguson, The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West (2006), pp. 72-73
 * The First World War changed everything. In the summer of 1914 the world economy was thriving in ways that look distinctly familiar. The mobility of commodities, capital and labour reached levels comparable with those we know today; the sea lanes and telegraphs across the Atlantic were never busier, as capital and migrants went west and raw materials and manufactures went east. The war sank globalization - literally. Nearly thirteen million tons of shipping went to the bottom of the sea as a result of German naval action, most of it by U-boats. International trade, investment and emigration all collapsed. In the war's aftermath, revolutionary regimes arose that were fundamentally hostile to international economic integration. Plans replaced the market; autarky and protection took the place of free trade. Flows of goods diminished; flows of people and capital all but dried up. The European empires' grip on the world - which had been the political undergirding of globalization - was dealt a profound, if not quite fatal, blow. The reverberations of Princip's shots truly shook the world.
 * Niall Ferguson, The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West (2006), pp. 73

 * We are not going to lose this war, but its prolongation will spell ruin for the civilised world, and an infinite addition to the load of human suffering which already weighs upon it...We do not desire the annihilation of Germany as a great power ... We do not seek to impose upon her people any form of government other than that of their own choice... We have no desire to deny Germany her place among the great commercial communities of the world.
 * Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 5th_Marquess of Lansdowne, Lansdowne Letter, The Daily Telegraph, (29 November 1917).

 * This is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years.
 * Ferdinand Foch, Said after the Treaty of Versailles, as quoted in Memoires (1963) by Paul Reynaud, vol. 2, p. 457.

 * At eleven o’clock this morning came to an end the cruellest and most terrible War that has ever scourged mankind. I hope we may say that thus, this fateful morning, came to an end all wars.
 * David Lloyd George, Speech in the House of Commons, (11 November 1918)

 * The lamps are going out all over Europe: we shall not see them lit again in our life-time."
 * Edward Grey, Vol. 2, ch. 18, p. 20 books.google
 * On his famous remark, in August of 1914, about the impending outbreak of the First World War
 * Cf. John Alfred Spender: Life, Journalism and Politics, Vol. 2, Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York 1927. Chp. 20, p. 14 archive.org and The lamps are going out.

 * Are we virtuous merely because we are restrained by the fetters of the law? We hear men prophecy that this war means the death of Christianity and an era of Pandeism or perhaps even the destruction of all which we call modern civilization and culture. We hear men predict that the ultimate result of the war will be a blessing to humanity.
 * Louis S. Hardin, '17, "The Chimerical Application of Machiavelli's Principles", Yale Sheffield Monthly (May 1915), p. 463, pp 461–465

 * My countrymen, there isn't anything the matter with the world's civilization except that humanity is viewing it through a vision impaired in a cataclysmal war. Poise has been disturbed, and nerves have been wracked, and fever has rendered men irrational. Sometimes there have been draughts upon the dangerous cup of barbarity. Men have wandered far from safe paths, but the human procession still marches in the right direction. Here in the United States we feel the reflex, rather than the hurting wound itself, but we still think straight; and we mean to act straight; we mean to hold firmly to all that was ours when war involved us and seek the higher attainments which are the only compensations that so supreme a tragedy may give mankind.
 * Warren G. Harding, May 14, 1920

 * The Frogs" and "Joe Latrino" boys had been whispering the fini la guerre for so long that when the news did reach us, we didn't believe it. The official report caught us just about midnight along the main drag southwest of Sedan, which had been reached by some of the units of the outfit in competition with other American divisions and the French. He only thing we had to celebrate with were grenades, rockets, rifles, etc., and everybody did. The bedlam wore off about daybreak. The waffle boys of the staff drove up in their big limousines and shiny uniforms and boots and demanded: "Where are your men?" The captain pointed. Here and there in a rain-soaked field and out in the open in the steady drizzle, there were the men, sleeping singly, coiled up like a dog, or in twos or threes, anything to keep warm.
 * , "News Hounds, Once Doughboys, Describe First Armisitice Day: South of Sedan," The Tampa Times (12 November 1928), p. 11

 * Anyone who thinks of the Germans as a naturally bellicose people should recall that Prussia-Germany was the only one of the continental powers in the run-up to 1914 whose elite seriously feared that if they had their war, their people might refuse to fight it.
 * James Hawes, The Shortest History of Germany (2017)

 * During the war we necessarily turned to the government to solve every difficult economic problem.  The government having absorbed every energy of our people for war, there was no other solution.  For the preservation of the state the Federal Government became a centralized despotism which undertook unprecedented responsibilities, assumed autocratic powers, and took over the business of citizens.  To a large degree we regimented our whole people temporarily into a socialistic state.  However justified in time of war if continued in peace-time it would destroy not only our American system but with it our progress and freedom as well. When the war closed, the most vital of all issues both in our own country and throughout the world was whether governments should continue their wartime ownership and operation of many instrumentalities of production and distribution.  We were challenged with a peace-time choice between the American system of rugged individualism and a European philosophy of diametrically opposed doctrines -- doctrines of paternalism and state socialism.  The acceptance of these ideas would have meant the destruction of self-government through centralization of government.   It would have meant the undermining of the individual initiative and enterprise through which our people have grown to unparalleled greatness.
 * Herbert Hoover, Campaign Speech (22 October 1928)

 * The burning blasts of war have shrivelled, blackened, and destroyed the world we once knew. Old landmarks have disappeared. The nations of the earth panting from the struggle, impoverished by the unprecedented destruction of wealth, are confronted with a new set of financial, national, and industrial circumstances. Humanity has indulged in a terrible orgy of destruction; it must pay the price.
 * Billy Hughes, Campaign Speech (30 October 1919)

 * The First World War was a tragic and unnecessary conflict. Unnecessary because the train of events that led to its outbreak might have been broken at any point during the five weeks of crisis that preceded the first clash of arms, had prudence or common goodwill found a voice; tragic because the consequences of the first clash ended the lives of ten million human beings, tortured the emotional lives of millions more, destroyed the benevolent and optimistic culture of the European continent and left, when the guns at last fell silent four years later, a legacy of political rancour and racial hatred so intense that no explanation of the causes of the Second World War can stand without reference to those roots.
 * John Keegan, The First World War (1998)

 * The tragedy of the diplomatic crisis that preceded the outbreak of the fighting in August 1914, which was to swell into the four-year tragedy of the Great War, is that events successively and progressively overwhelmed the capacity of statesmen and diplomats to control and contain them. Honourable and able men though they were, the servants of the chancelleries and foreign officers of the great powers in the July crisis were bound to the wheel of the written note, the encipherment routine, the telegraph schedule. The potentialities of the telephone, which might have cut across the barriers to communication, seem to have eluded their imaginative powers. The potentialities of radio, available but unused, evaded them altogether. In the event, the states of Europe proceeded, as if in a dead march and a dialogue of the deaf, to the destruction of their continent and its civilisation.
 * John Keegan, The First World War (1998)
 * Although the major development of the fifty years after 1900 can thus be seen as the coming of a bipolar world, with its consequent crisis for the "middle" Powers (as referred in the titles of Chapters 5 and 6), this metamorphosis of the entire system was by no means a smooth one. On the contrary, the grinding, bloody mass battles of the First World War, by placing a premium upon industrial organization and national efficiency, gave imperial Germany certain advantages over the swiftly modernizing but still backward czarist Russia. Within a few months of Germany's victory on the eastern front, however, it found itself facing defeat in the west, while its allies were similarly collapsing in the Italian, Balkan, and Near Eastern theaters of the war. Because of the late addition of American military and especially economic aid, the western alliance finally had the resources to prevail over its rival coalition. But it had been an exhausting struggle for all the original belligerents. Austria-Hungary was gone, Russia in revolution, Germany defeated; yet France, Italy, and even Britain itself had also suffered heavily in their victory. The only exceptions were Japan, which further augmented its position in the Pacific; and, of course, the United States, which by 1918 was indisputably the strongest Power in the world.
 * Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (1989)
 * The First World War exhausted treasuries, terminated dynasties and shattered lives. It was a catastrophe from which Europe has never fully recovered. By the signing of the armistice agreement on November 11, 1918, nearly 10 million soldiers and 7 million civilians had been killed. Of every seven soldiers who had been mobilized, one never returned. Two generations of the youth of Europe had been depleted – young men killed, young women left widowed or alone, countless children orphaned. While France and Britain emerged victorious, both were exhausted and politically fragile. Defeated Germany, shorn of its colonies and gravely indebted, oscillated between resentment of the victors and internal conflict among its competing political parties. The Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires both collapsed, while Russia experienced one of the most radical revolutions in history and now stood outside any international system.
 * Henry Kissinger, Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy (2022)

 * To me the war was an abomination, a madness, a crime, and from the first moment onwards–more out of impulse than reflection–I inwardly rejected it and could never reconcile myself with it up to this very moment.
 * Alexandra Kollontai, The Autobiography of a Sexually Emancipated Communist Woman (1926), translated by, Herder and Herder, 1971

 * [T]o claim that the over 100,000 American soldiers who died on the in World War I were defending American freedoms, as  speakers like Obama do year after year, is simply a lie. World War I was never about a threat to America. It was a war of empire, fought by the European powers, none of which was any better or worse than the others, and the US joined that conflict not for noble reasons or for defense, but in hopes of picking up some of the pieces. My own maternal grandfather, a promising sprinter who had Olympic aspirations, was struck with  in the trenches and, unable to run anymore with his permanently scarred lungs, ended up having to settle for coaching high school as a career. (My paternal grandfather won a silver star for heroism as an ambulance driver on the front, but was so damaged by what he experienced that he never talked about it at all, my father says.) Sadly, their sacrifices and heroism served no noble cause.
 * Dave Lindorff, The Glorification of War (May 31, 2010),

 * In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short day ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields.  Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.
 * John McCrae, In Flanders Fields (1915)

 * I foresee that very soon I shall be overwhelmed by the pressure forced upon me and be forced to take extreme measures which will lead to war. To try and avoid such a calamity as a European war I beg you in the name of our old friendship to do what you can to stop your allies from going too far. Nicky.
 * Nicholas II of Russia, telegraph to Wilhelm II, German Emperor; as quoted in Bernstein, Herman (1918) The Willy-Nicky Correspondence: Being the Secret and Intimate Telegrams Exchanged between the Kaiser and the Tsar.

 * For all the astounding growth in man’s power, there had been no parallel increase in responsibility. The caveman with the club was now a caveman with a machine gun.
 * John O'Farrell, An Utterly Impartial History of Britain (2007)

 * What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
 * Wilfred Owen, from Anthem for Doomed Youth

 * After the World War, millions wanted anything that would help them forget the filth of human combat and the criminal stupidity of war-makers. Today, nobody needs or wants that variety of oblivion. Still there remains a widespread interest both in oblivion and in war. The causes have changed, and so, too, have the special publics. Take the shift in war interest. Men and women who were involved in the World War still smell its stench, and hate it, gore and glory alike. But we have with us to-day tens of millions of young adults who were babes and juveniles between the years 1914 and 1918. While the fighting was going on, they understood nothing and experienced little, save the flag waving and the silly propaganda of the governments. As the years passed, they listened to the veterans, to the tales of returning tourists, and to the swelling chorus of poets and novelists who cashed in on the bloody episode. They realized that they had missed something big, and they were deceived about its nature, just as we all are deceived by stories of things we have never seen face to face. So, to the rising generation of to-day, the War is a strange alluring welter of romance. It is an escape from office drudgery and school lessons, just as in 1917 the oblivion of wild parties was an escape from the nasty monotony of the trenches.
 * Walter B. Pitkin and William M. Marston, “The Art of Sound Pictures” D. Appleton and Company, New York London (1930), CHAPTER II WHAT PEOPLE WANT, pp. 18-19

 * The transformation came on even more abruptly than is usually realized. World War I and the postwar revolutions still formed part of the nineteenth century. The conflict of 1914-18 merely precipitated and immeasurably aggravated a crisis that it had not created. But the roots of the dilemma could not be discerned at the time; and the horrors and devastations of the Great War seemed to the survivors the obvious source of the obstacles to international organization that had so unexpectedly emerged.
 * Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation (1944), Ch. 2 : Conservative Twenties, Revolutionary Thirties

 * Some of us still recall World War I, which awakened our generation to the fact that history was not a matter of the past, as a thoughtless philosophy of the hundred years’ peace would have us believe. And once started, it did not cease to happen. I will seek to evoke the scenes we have witnessed and take the measure of our frustrations. Great triumphs and grave disappointments have been met with. However, it is not a balance of our experiences, achievements and omissions that stands to question; nor am I scanning the horizon for a mere break. The time has come to take note of a much bigger change.
 * Karl Polanyi, "For a New West" (1958)

 * These fought, in any case, and some believing, pro domo, in any case ... Some quick to arm, some for adventure, some from fear of weakness, some from fear of censure, some for love of slaughter, in imagination, learning later ... some in fear, learning love of slaughter; Died some pro patria, non dulce non et decor”... walked eye-deep in hell believing in old men’s lies, then unbelieving came home, home to a lie, home to many deceits, home to old lies and new infamy; usury age-old and age-thick and liars in public places. Daring as never before, wastage as never before. Young blood and high blood, Fair cheeks, and fine bodies; fortitude as never before frankness as never before, disillusions as never told in the old days, hysterias, trench confessions, laughter out of dead bellies.
 * Ezra Pound, Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (1920), Poem IV

 * The Great War’s vindication of liberal ideals and democratic forms, and its severe rebuff to rampant authoritarianism, was a mighty accomplishment. At the present time, when – anyway in the West – the decencies and humanity inherent in the liberal state are so widely experienced and appreciated, it is hardly appropriate for Westerners to denigrate a bygone struggle which served to vindicate those values and preserve those decencies from deadly peril.
 * Robin Prior & Trevor Wilson, The First World War (1999), 2001 paperback edition; ISBN 0–304-35984-X (even though Wikiquote is registering this as an invalid ISBN), p. 217

 * The cost of the Great War has never been adequately computed though its scale is clear enough; over 10 million men died as a result of direct military. As for disease, typhus probably killed another million in the Balkans alone. Nor do even such terrible figures indicate the unprecedented physical and psychic toll in maiming, blinding, the loss to families of fathers, husbands and sons, the spiritual havoc in the destruction of ideals, confidence and goodwill. Europeans looked at their huge cemeteries and the long list of those who were, as the British memorials recorded, 'missing', and were appalled at what they had done.
 * J. M. Roberts, The Penguin History of the Twentieth Century (2000)

 * In war-time the word patriotism means suppression of truth.
 * Siegfried Sassoon in Memoirs of an Infantry Officer.
 * The origins of the Nazi and Soviet regimes, and of their encounter in the bloodlands, lie in the First World War of 1914-1918. The war broke the old land empires of Europe, while inspiring dreams of new ones. It replaced the dynastic principle of rule by emperors with the fragile idea of popular sovereignty. It showed that millions of men would obey orders to fight and die, for causes abstract and distant, in the name of homelands that were already ceasing to be or only coming into being. New states were created from virtually nothing, and large groups of civilians were moved or eliminated by the application of simple techniques. More than a million Armenians were killed by Ottoman authorities. Germans and Jews were deported by the Russian Empire. Bulgarians, Greeks, and Turks were exchanged among national states after the war. Just as important, the war shattered an integrated global economy. No adult European alive in 1914 would ever see the restoration of comparable free trade; most European adults alive in 1914 would not enjoy comparable levels of prosperity during the rest of their lives.
 * Timothy D. Snyder, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. E-book, New York: Basic Books, 2010,

 * The First World War had begun – imposed on the statesmen of Europe by railway timetables. It was an unexpected climax to the railway age.
 * A. J. P. Taylor, The First World War ([1963] 1970) p. 20

 * The First World War killed fewer victims than the Second World War, destroyed fewer buildings, and uprooted millions instead of tens of millions — but in many ways it left even deeper scars both on the mind and on the map of Europe. The old world never recovered from the shock.
 * Edmond Taylor, in The Fossil Monarchies

 * Despite the efforts of propagandists, German reservists evidenced little hate. Urged to despise the Germans, Tommies saw no compelling national interest in retrieving French and Belgian crossroads and cabbage patches. Rather, both sides fought as soldiers fought in most wars — for survival, and to protect the men who had become extended family.
 * Stanley Weintraub, Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce (2001)

 * Five months into the war, although a million were already dead, the trenches remained graves for the living. On both sides in 1915 there would be more dead on any single day than yards gained in the entire year. And there would be nearly four more years of attrition — not to determine who was right, but who was left.
 * Stanley Weintraub, Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce (2001)

 * The Slavs have now become unrestful and will want to attack Austria. Germany is bound to stand by her ally - Russia and France will join in and then England... I am a man of peace but now I have to arm my Country so that whoever falls on me I can crush - and crush them I will.
 * Wilhelm II, German Emperor, conversation with Lord Stamfordham (25 May 1913), quoted in John Rohl, 'Germany', in Keith Wilson (ed.), Decisions for War 1914 (London: University College London Press, 1995), pp. 43-44

 * Immediate affirmative clear and unmistakable answer from your government is the only way to avoid endless misery. Until I have received this answer alas, I am unable to discuss the subject of your telegram. As a matter of fact I must request you to immediately [sic] order your troops on no account to commit the slightest act of trespassing over our frontiers. Willy
 * Wilhelm II, German Emperor, telegraph to Nicholas II of Russia; as quoted in Bernstein, Herman (1918) The Willy-Nicky Correspondence: Being the Secret and Intimate Telegrams Exchanged between the Kaiser and the Tsar.

 * Either Germanic ideals or Anglo-Saxon ones must prevail. Justice, freedom, honor, and virtue will triumph, or the worship of money. There can be only one victor in this struggle. German ideals are at stake!
 * Wilhelm II, German Emperor, speech in the aftermath of the Spring Offensive (18 July 1918), quoted in Fritz Fischer, World Power or Decline (New York: W. W. Norton & Co, 1974), p. 92

 * It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts, for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other.
 * Woodrow Wilson, address to a joint session of Congress recommending that Germany's course be declared war against the United States (April 2, 1917), Albert Shaw, ed., The Messages and Papers of Woodrow Wilson (1924), vol. 1, p. 382–83

 * God would never be cruel enough to create a cyclone as terrible as that Argonne battle. Only man would ever think of doing an awful thing like that. It looked like "the abomination of desolation" must look like. And all through the long night those big guns flashed and growled just like the lightning and the thunder when it storms in the mountains at home. And, oh my, we had to pass the wounded. And some of them were on stretchers going back to the dressing stations, and some of them were lying around, moaning and twitching. And the dead were all along the road. And it was wet and cold. And it all made me think of the Bible and the story of the Anti-Christ and Armageddon. And I'm telling you the little log cabin in Wolf Valley in old Tennessee seemed a long long way off.
 * Alvin York, in his account of 7 October 1918, in the Diary of Alvin York

 * the big war of 1914-1918 was not my war. It was plainly not a war for democracy but for plutocracy; not for peace but for plunder, and to make our country military-minded. It was capitalism's war-not mine.
 * Art Young: His Life and Times (1939)

 * We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral. In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal of alliance on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The settlement in detail is left to you. You will inform the President of the above most secretly as soon as the outbreak of war with the United States of America is certain and add the suggestion that he should, on his own initiative, invite Japan to immediate adherence and at the same time mediate between Japan and ourselves. Please call the President's attention to the fact that the ruthless employment of our submarines now offers the prospect of compelling England in a few months to make peace.
 * Arthur Zimmermann, telegram to Heinrich von Eckardt'', (January 1917)

 * Gott strafe England.
 * May God punish England.
 * A common slogan of the German Army, attributed to Ernst Lissauer

 * It have been one of the richest experiences of my life...feeling that I was being really useful to the boys on the other side.
 * Unidentified actress about working in a war factory. From an excerpt in Adriane Ruggiero, American Voices from World War I (2003), p. 79–80, citing Norma B. Kastl, "Wartime, the Place and the Girl", Independent magazine (unidentified issue).

Economic impact

 * The economic clauses of the Treaty were malignant and silly to an extent that made them obviously futile. Germany was condemned to pay reparations on a fabulous scale. These dictates gave expression to the anger of the victors, and to the belief of their peoples that any defeated nation or community can ever pay tribute on a scale which would meet the cost of modern war. The multitudes remained plunged in ignorance of the simplest economic facts, and their leaders, seeking their votes, did not dare to undeceive them. The newspapers, after their fashion, reflected and emphasised the prevailing opinions. Few voices were raised to explain that payment of reparations can only be made by services or by the physical transportation of goods in wagons across land frontiers or in ships across salt water; or that when these goods arrive in the demanding countries, they dislocate the local industry except in very primitive or rigorously controlled societies. In practice, as even the Russians have now learned, the only way of pillaging a defeated nation is to cart away any movables which are wanted, and to drive off a portion of its manhood as permanent or temporary slaves. But the profit gained from such processes bears no relation to the cost of the war. No one in great authority had the wit, ascendancy, or detachment from public folly to declare these fundamental, brutal facts to the electorates; nor would anyone have been believed if he had. The triumphant Allies continued to assert that they would squeeze Germany “till the pips squeaked.” All this had a potent bearing on the prosperity of the world and the mood of the German race.
 * Winston Churchill, The Second World War Volume I: The Gathering Storm (1948), ISBN 0-395-41055-X
 * In fact, however, these clauses were never enforced. On the contrary, whereas about one thousand million pounds of German assets were appropriated by the victorious Powers, more than one thousand five hundred millions were lent a few years later to Germany, principally by the United States and Great Britain, thus enabling the ruin of the war to be rapidly repaired in Germany. As this apparently magnanimous process was still accompanied by the machine-made howlings of the unhappy and embittered populations in the victorious countries, and the assurances of their statesmen that Germany should be made to pay “to the uttermost farthing,” no gratitude or good will was to be expected or reaped. Germany only paid, or was only able to pay, the indemnities later extorted because the United States was profusely lending money to Europe, and especially to her. In fact, during the three years 1926 to 1929 the United States was receiving back in the form of debt-instalment indemnities from all quarters about one-fifth of the money which she was lending to Germany with no chance of repayment. However, everybody seemed pleased and appeared to think this might go on for ever. History will characterise all these transactions as insane. They helped to breed both the martial curse and the “economic blizzard,” of which more later. Germany now borrowed in all directions, swallowing greedily every credit which was lavishly offered her. Misguided sentiment about aiding the vanquished nation, coupled with a profitable rate of interest on these loans, led British investors to participate, though on a much smaller scale than those of the United States. Thus, Germany gained the two thousand millions sterling in loans as against the one thousand million of indemnities which she paid in one form or another by surrender of capital assets and valuta in foreign countries, or by juggling with the enormous American loans. All this is a sad story of complicated idiocy in the making of which much toil and virtue was consumed.
 * Winston Churchill, The Second World War Volume I: The Gathering Storm (1948), ISBN 0-395-41055-X
 * THE nitrogen fixation plants built by the government during the great war at a cost of about one hundred million dollars, to supply materials needed for making explosives and poisonous gases, had been idle since the Armistice. These plants could be utilized, whether sold to private corporations or operated by the government for the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen for industrial and agricultural purposes, and thus greatly increase the supply of nitrogen compounds needed in the industries, and stimulate the production of food through supplying nitrogen for the manufacture of fertilizer. The present anomalous situation in the government plants gives occasion for a survey of the remarkable chemical developments of recent years and of their importance for war and for peace. Nitrogen, tho the most important element needed for an adequate supply of fertilizer, is not the only one essential. Two others are also important: potash and phosphoric acid. All must be chemically combined in such a way as to be available as plant food. Before the outbreak of the war potash was contained entirely from Germany, at a price maintained substantially above the cost of production by a German monopoly. Exports from Germany ceased early in 1915, and prices in the United States promptly rose to about ten times normal. Existing stocks were thereafter largely diverted to chemical uses, and relatively insignificant amounts were used in fertilizer from 1916 up to and including 1919.
 * Grinnell Jones, “Nitrogen: It's fixation, its uses in peace ad war”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 34, No. 3 (May, 1920), pp. 391-392

 * Since sulphuric acid in enormous amounts was required for the manufacture of explosives, much of our supply was diverted from the making of fertilizer to direct war use. However, most manufacturers of fertilizer make the acid they need, and hence this diversion did not result in direct financial loss. But their regular business was disorganized and their customers suffered from the disruption. As a direct result of the war demands for sulphuric acid the productive capacity for the manufacture of sulphuric acid in the United States is now more than twice what it was in 1914.
 * Grinnell Jones, “Nitrogen: It's fixation, its uses in peace ad war”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 34, No. 3 (May 1920), p. 393

 * When the war began, the U.S. economy was in recession. But a 44-month economic boom ensued from 1914 to 1918, first as Europeans began purchasing U.S. goods for the war and later as the United States itself joined the battle. "The long period of U.S. neutrality made the ultimate conversion of the economy to a wartime basis easier than it otherwise would have been," writes Rockoff. "Real plant and equipment were added, and because they were added in response to demands from other countries already at war, they were added precisely in those sectors where they would be needed once the U.S. entered the war."
 * Carlos Lozada, “The Economics of World War I”, National Bureau of Economic Research Digest, (January 2005)

 * Rockoff estimates the total cost of World War I to the United States at approximately $32 billion, or 52 percent of gross national product at the time. He breaks down the financing of the U.S. war effort as follows: 22 percent in taxes, 58 percent through borrowings from the public, and 20 percent in money creation. The War Revenue Act of 1917 taxed "excess profits" -- profits exceeding an amount determined by the rate of return on capital in a base period -- by some 20 to 60 percent, and the tax rate on income starting at $50,000 rose from 1.5 percent in 1913-15 to more than 18 percent in 1918. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo crisscrossed the country peddling war bonds, even enlisting the help of Hollywood stars and Boy Scouts. The prevalence of patriotic themes created social pressure to purchase the "Liberty bonds" (and, after the armistice, the "Victory bonds"), but in practice the new bondholders did not make a tangible personal sacrifice in buying war bonds, since the yields on the set debt instruments were comparable to those on standard municipal bonds at the time. As Rockoff notes, "patriotic motives were not sufficient to alter market prices of assets during the war."
 * Carlos Lozada, “The Economics of World War I”, National Bureau of Economic Research Digest, (January 2005)

 * Finally, the author assesses the legacies of World War I for the U.S. economy. When the war began, the United States was a net debtor in international capital markets, but following the war the United States began investing large amounts internationally, particularly Latin America, thus "taking on the role traditionally played by Britain and other European capital exporters." With Britain weakened after the war, New York emerged "as London's equal if not her superior in the contest to be the world's leading financial center."
 * Carlos Lozada, “The Economics of World War I”, National Bureau of Economic Research Digest, (January 2005)

Chemical warfare

 * The Haber-Bosch process is generally credited with keeping Germany supplied with fertilizers and munitions during World War I, after the British naval blockade cut off supplies of nitrates from Chile. During the war Haber threw his energies and those of his institute into further support for the German side. He developed a new weapon—poison gas, the first example of which was chlorine gas—and supervised its initial deployment on the Western Front at Ypres, Belgium, in 1915. His promotion of this frightening weapon precipitated the suicide of his wife, who was herself a chemist, and many others condemned him for his wartime role. There was great consternation when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 1918 for the synthesis of ammonia from its elements.
 * Science History Institute, "Fritz Haber", (7 December 2017)

Sexology

 * In the period between 1900 and the First World War, there was a relatively homogenous sexual culture in which respectable people within all classes and age groups in society shared broadly similar, negative attitudes to sexuality. The impression that Victorian sexual mores altered substantially in these decades is misleading. The working classes were becoming more sexually restrained, and while the Bloomsbury group and other rebels contributed to the new openness which was being introduced in novels and magazines, their sexual activity remained limited. In the aftermath of the First World War, historians of masculinity have found that a deeply anti-heroic mood emerged. This further advanced the modification of masculinity set in motion by first-wave feminism, while women’s confidence and independence was increased by war work. Nonetheless, the majority of the population remained sexually conservative throughout the inter-war period. The generation that came of age in this period grew up between 1900 and the war, and a high proportion remained unmarried or married late. For example, only 59 per cent of women aged 20 to 39 were married in 1931. Fertility rates continued to fall until the 1930s, and the inadequate contraception available ensured that those who did marry continued to focus on sexual restraint. There were considerable changes following the First World War but the impact of these on the sexual knowledge and behavior of the majority was not felt until the 1930s. By then books on physical sexuality and contraception were becoming more widely available, and such topics could be mentioned in newspapers and magazines, although censorship remained a major constraint. Contraception was being used by all classes. Sexual ignorance was eroding and a recognizably modern sexual culture began to emerge. Children growing up in this period had a very different experience of the body from those who grew up before the First World War. Following the war, clothing, especially that worn by women, became less heavy and tight, more people took recreational exercise, and exposure to sun and air was encouraged. Relevant progressive causes that blossomed in the 1930s included nudism and free schools movement.
 * Hera Cook, “The long sexual revolution: English women, sex and contraception 1800-1975”, Oxford University Press, 2004, "Summarizing Sexual Change", p.182-183

 * The American Social Hygiene Association fought hard to prohibit condom use in the early part of this century. Social hygienists believed that anyone who risked getting “venereal” diseases should suffer the consequences, including American doughboys ⎯U.S. soldiers who fought in World War I. The American Expeditionary Forces, as our army was called, were denied the use of condoms, so it is not surprising that by the end of the war our troops had very high rates of sexually transmitted infections. Like most people throughout history, our “boys” were just unable to “just say ‘no’” (Brandt, 1985). The Secretary of the Navy at that time was only one of many military leaders who believed that condom use and other infection prevention methods were immoral and “unchristian.” It was a young  Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who, when his boss was away from the office, decided to help sailors treat infections that they could have otherwise prevented with condoms. FDR ordered the distribution of prophylactic kits that contained chemicals to wash and insert into the penis to treat gonorrhea and syphilis (Brandt, 1985).
 * “A History of Birth Control Methods“, Planned Parenthood, p.5

Tank Corps

 * Fuller later recalled his own epiphany. He’d gone to Yvranch, France, home of the army’s Heavy Section, as Tank Corps was then called, to watch the demonstration of a remarkable new weapon. (In fact, about all the Heavy Section was doing in those days was putting on daily maintenance-intensive dog-and-pony shows for visiting officers, sending its crude tanks to trundle over berms, cross trenches and, of course, crush trees like matchsticks.) “Everyone was talking and chatting,” Fuller wrote, “when slowly came into sight the first tank I ever saw. Not a monster but a very graceful machine with beautiful lines.…Here was the missing tool of penetration, the answer to the dominance on the battlefield of small-arms fire.” Fuller had found the antidote to the all-powerful machine gun. Fuller’s first actual tank operation was the April 1917 Battle of Arras. As a demonstration of the tank’s capability the operation was a failure, at least in part because tankers ignored Fuller’s advice to deploy en masse and instead fed the tanks—mostly clapped-out training vehicles shipped from England—into battle a few at a time. Nor did it help that the army insisted on a traditional pre-attack artillery bombardment, a tactic anathema to Fuller, as it both eliminated any element of surprise and so thoroughly chewed up the ground that many of the tanks were immobilized. The Battle of Cambrai in November and December 1917 was the Tank Corps’ greatest wartime success, as it punched a horde of tanks through the Hindenburg Line in a stunning example of Fuller’s penetration tactics. Fuller had wanted to lead the central charge, but his commander, Lt. Col. Hugh Elles, turned him down and directed the battle himself from his tank “Hilda,” becoming a fleeting national hero as a result. Still, Cambrai wasn’t a clear-cut enough victory to establish Tank Corps as part of the varsity. Field Marshal Douglas Haig instead relegated tanks to a defensive role, much to Fuller’s chagrin. The iron monsters were strung out along a 65-mile front, either dug into pits or otherwise fortified—parked pillboxes, in effect—where “this beast would squat and slumber until the enemy advanced,” Fuller later mocked, “when it would make warlike noises and pounce upon him.” Fuller’s finest wartime moment was the promulgation of his Plan 1919. Believing World War I would continue into 1919, he suggested victory with a single penetrating, surprise, mass tank attack aimed not at killing lots of German soldiers but at reaching and killing the enemy “brain”—the rear-area command-and-communications infrastructure—and thus paralyzing the body. But Fuller’s most meaningful tactical concept came to naught, as the war ended in November 1918. Had it continued, Fuller today might be as widely known as Guderian, Montgomery and Patton.
 * Stephan Wilkinson, “J.F.C. “Boney” Fuller – Wacko Genius of Armored Warfare”, History.net

Battle of Verdun

 * The Battle of Verdun was the longest sustained conflict of World War I. The battle, which lasted 300 days and cost more than 300,000 French and German lives in 1916, was also one of the bloodiest of “The Great War.” The intense fighting and shelling near the tiny town of Verdun has permanently altered the region surrounding the Meuse River in northeastern France. The environmental destruction left by the battle led to the creation of the Zone Rouge—the Red Zone. The Zone Rouge is a 42,000-acre territory that, nearly a century after the conflict, has no human residents and only allows limited access. Before World War I, the landscape of Verdun was different. “It was farmland,” says British historian and author Christina Holstein. “There was a very big garrison in Verdun, a peacetime garrison with 66,000 men, so they had to be fed. Verdun was farmed. It was not heavily forested.” That changed with the onset of war in 1914. By 1916, French and German forces had amassed significant munitions in the area—millions of rounds of ammunition and heavy, cannon-size guns. Holstein says the conflict at Verdun was the first of the great artillery battles of the war. “During that time, the shelling never stopped,” she says. “Millions and millions and millions of artillery shells were fired.”
 * Christina Holstein as quoted in “Red Zone”, by Stuart Thornton, National Geographic Magazine (May 2014)

 * “At the start of the battle, there were trenches, but as the months went by with shells falling all the time in many places, there weren’t any trenches at all,” Holstein says. “The ground was just completely churned up. Any trees were smashed, and men took shelter where they could, in shell holes and in holes in the ground.”
 * Christina Holstein as quoted in “Red Zone”, by Stuart Thornton, National Geographic Magazine (May 2014)

Prejudice against veterans

 * Going all the way back to the twenties, the horror movies of the Silent Era with Lon Cheney, there's a lot of twisted people. The monster was just a mutilated person. When people came back from World War I they came back without limbs. They came back in somewhat-living pieces.
 * Brian Yuzna, Nightmares in Red White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film, a 2009 documentary, beginning at 4:25

Aftermath of World War I

 * The Cold War stemmed from war, from the violence, fear and paranoia that conflict fostered, and from defeat and victory in two successive struggles, World War One and the Russian Civil War. Defeat at the hands of Germany and, even more, the social and political strain of conflict on an unprecedented scale in World War One (1914–18) led, in March 1917, to the fall of the Romanov dynasty in Russia and its replacement by a provisional, republican government. The dynasty had responded more successfully to the challenge of the Thirteen Years’ War with Poland in 1654–67, to the Great Northern War with Sweden in 1700–21, to wars with the Turks, Sweden and France between 1806 and 1815, and even to the brief French occupation of Moscow in 1812, than it was to do to war of a very different type with Germany.
 * Jeremy Black, The Cold War: A Military History (2015)
 * The same problems, of defeat at the hands of Germany, political division and social strain, weakened the Romanovs’ republican Social Democratic replacement, and this weakness provided the opportunity for a Bolshevik (Soviet Communist) coup in Russia later in 1917. The victory of the Bolsheviks over domestic foes and foreign intervention in the subsequent Russian Civil War (1918–21) ensured that their regime would not be short-lived, as for example was Communist rule in Hungary in 1919. The victory also furthered the identification of the Soviet regime with struggle, as well as giving such struggle a specific character. The war provided the regime with a strong rationale for opposition to Western states, notably the leading European empires, Britain and France, as well as the USA and, indeed, Japan.
 * Jeremy Black, The Cold War: A Military History (2015)

title: World War I


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User talk:62.242.64.210

Please stop adding nonsense to Wikiquote. It is considered vandalism. If you want to experiment, please use the sandbox. Thank you. - InvisibleSun 15:47, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

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title: User talk:62.242.64.210


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User talk:202.177.186.102

Blocked
This IP address has been blocked for one week for spamming. —LrdChaos 19:09, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:202.177.186.102


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Talk:Edward Abbey

Ah, nice to see that "Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell" is actually a real quote. He says that in a lot of ways, but that's the rendering that sounds best. It'd be good to get some more page numbers, but it's nice to see a lot more stuff sourced now. Sarge Baldy 19:58, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

Duplicate
One quote, "We know this apodictic rock...," is listed twice in a single edit (diff), attributed to two sources. If it appears in both works it should only be listed once, with a source note to that effect. ~ Ningauble 13:42, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Source needed for "One final paragraph of advice"
The brilliant paragraph beginning, "One final paragraph of advice:" is widely quoted but rarely sourced. WQ quotes from Saving Nature's Legacy which evidently references it to a speech recorded in High Country News, 1976. However, the text of that issue is available at http://s3.amazonaws.com/hcn-media/archive-pdf/1976_09_24.pdf and the paragraph quoted does not appear. Does anyone have another source, or a fuller recording of that speech? 64.9.63.213 20:27, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

Saving Nature's Legacy includes the quote on p. 338 but does not actually cite any specific text. Outdoors in the Southwest: An Adventure Anthology admits there is no agreement on the source for the quote. That book's author says "In the late 1970s Abbey made these remarks in a speech to a meeting of environmental activists, but exactly where is unclear-- some sources states [sic] it was a Vail, Colorado, conference in 1976 and others that it was at a meeting in Missoula, Montana, in 1978. Cited in Steve Van Matre and Bill Weiler, eds., The Earth Speaks (Greenville, WV: Institute for Earth Education, 1983), 57." Outdoors in the Southwest: An Adventure Anthology, Andrew Gulliford, ed., (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014) 15, note 35. --Fathomharvill (talk) 13:16, 13 November 2016 (UTC)

title: Talk:Edward Abbey


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Silent Running

Silent Running is a 1972 film about the last forests of a barren Earth being preserved in large geodesic domes aboard space-bound freighters orbiting Saturn. When the orders are given to destroy the forests, and return the ships to commercial service, Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) kills his crewmates, and hijacks the space freighter "Valley Forge," making off with the last surviving dome.
 * Directed by Douglas Trumbull. Written by Deric Washburn, Michael Cimino and Steve Bochco.

Amazing companions on an incredible adventure... that journeys beyond imagination! taglines

Freeman Lowell

 * It calls back a time when there were flowers all over the Earth. And there were valleys.  And there were plains of tall, green grass that you could lie down in... that you could go to sleep in.  And, there were blue skies, and there was fresh air, and there were things growing all over the place, not just in some domed enclosures blasted some millions of miles out into space!
 * On Earth, everywhere you go, the temperature is seventy-five degrees. Everything is the same.  All the people, are exactly the same.  Now, what kind of life is that?
 * Every time we have the argument, you say the same thing to me, you give me the same three answers all the time, the same thing, "well, everybody has a job," that's always the last one. But, you know what else there is no more of, my friend, there is no more beauty, there is no more imagination, and there are no frontiers left to conquer, and do you know why?  Only one reason why:  one reason why, the same attitude that you three guys are giving me right here in this room today, and that is:  nobody cares.
 * Look on the wall behind you. Look at that little girl's face.  I know you've seen it.  But do you know what she is never going to be able to see?  She's never going to be able to see the simple wonder of a leaf in her hand.  Because there is not going to be any trees.  Now, you think about that.
 * You know, when I was a kid. I put a note into a bottle, and it had my name and address on it.  And then I threw the bottle into the ocean.  And I never knew, if anyone ever found it.
 * You can't blow up this forest.
 * "You don’t think it’s time somebody cared enough to have a dream? What about the forests? You don't think anyone should care about these forests? What's going to happen if these forests and all this incredible beauty is lost for all time?"

John Wolf

 * The fact is, Lowell, if people were interested, something would have been done a long time ago.

Commander Anderson

 * On this first day of a new century, we humbly beg forgiveness, and dedicate these last forests of our once-beautiful nation, in the hope that they will one day return and grace our fouled Earth. Until that day, may God bless these forests, and the brave men who care for them.
 * Boys, this is Anderson speaking. We have just received orders to abandon and nuclear destruct all the forests, and return our ships to commercial service.  I have received no explanation.  And we must begin at 0900 in the morning.  May God have mercy on us all.

Taglines

 * Amazing companions on an incredible adventure... that journeys beyond imagination!
 * Earth's last battle will be fought in space.

Cast

 * Bruce Dern - Freeman Lowell
 * Cliff Potts - John Wolf
 * Ron Rifkin - Marty Barker
 * Jesse Vint 0 Andy Keenan
 * Mark Persons - Drone 1 (Dewey)
 * Cheryl Sparks and Steven Brown - Drone 2 (Huey)
 * Larry Whisenhunt - Drone 3 (Louie)

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Meg White

Meg White (born Megan Martha White on December 10, 1974) is an American drummer from Detroit best known for her work with Jack White in the Detroit rock duo The White Stripes.

Quotes

 * We never really cared about all the things that other people cared about, you know? Like, people recognizing me on the street never interested me. I've always been kind of suspicious of the world, anyway, so it's pretty easy for me to live in my own little world.
 * Jarmusch, Jim (2003). "The White Stripes: getting to know the most interesting band in music today" FindArticles.com (accessed June 6, 2006)

 * I don't want to know about my biggest idols. I don't want to read their autobiographies, I don't want to find out what they're really like.
 * Cameron, Keith (March 28, 2003), "The sweetheart deal". The Guardian. Retrieved December 15, 2014.

 * I was able to afford a car that didn't break down every five minutes.
 * When asked what she did with her first royalty check
 * Epstein, Daniel (2004). "The White Stripes - Coffee and Cigarettes" SuicideGirls.com (accessed June 6, 2006)

 * Actually I don't. I've never played with a bass player before, so I wouldn't even know. It wouldn't feel like it's missing, I just think it's normal … I prefer it that way so I only have to concentrate on Jack.
 * When asked does she miss having a bass player in the band
 * Loder, Kurt (date unknown). "The White Stripes - At the Zoo with Kurt Loder" MTV.com (accessed June 6, 2006)

 * It's in this book I was reading. Apparently, there's a little red demon dwarf that haunts the city, and before every major bad thing that's happened, it's appeared to somebody. Last time, he appeared in a Cadillac.
 * On what's wrong with Detroit
 * Andrew Perry (13 November 2004). "What's eating Jack?", TheGuardian.com (accessed October 24, 2014)

 * We were like a moth right next to the flame. It's like, do any more and you go down. We were so tired. One final lap, and then have a rest.
 * Perry, Andrew (2004). "The White Stripes uncut" ObserverGuardian.co.uk (access June 6, 2006)
 * On deciding to end the Elephant tour when they did

 * I wasn't brought up with any religion, actually.
 * Gross, Terry (2005) Fresh Air: "A White-Striped Trip: 'Get Behind Me Satan'" NPR.org (accessed June 6, 2006)

 * We've never had problems. We love each other, understand each other, and get past anything.
 * On her relationship with Jack White
 * Frampton, Scott (July 2007), "Jack & Meg White". Esquire. 148 (1):118-119

title: Meg White


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User talk:202.177.186.176

Adding unrelated external links to Wikiquote pages is considered vandalism. Wikiquote is NOT a vehicle for advertising or a mere collection of links. If you continue to use Wikiquote for advertising, you will be blocked from editing. - InvisibleSun 20:16, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

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title: User talk:202.177.186.178


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title: Category:Drummers


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User talk:71.106.7.13

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Infinite Crisis

Infinite Crisis is a limited series comic book set in the DC Universe.

Alexander Luthor Jr

 * I'm you. Only better.

 * I'm like my father. The only hero in a world full of villains.

 * Like Sodom and Gomorrah, Blüdhaven falls. -- Infinite Crisis #4

 * Tell me, Lex Luthor-- how does it feel to be stupid?

 * Kara will help us, Superboy. And so will Kal-L. Whether they like it or not.

 * At last. It will be undone.

 * I’m going to fix everything.

 * The men and women plugged into the tower will help me re-form the core Earths. But I need the rest of the multiverse back as well. I need thousands and thousands of worlds. Worlds I can sift through like sand, one grain at a time, combining and mixing until I find it. Until I find the perfect earth.

 * The Superman of Earth-Two is the key to the return of the rest of the multiverse. For some reason I can’t explain or understand, and probably never will… everything comes from Superman.

 * [after creating, then destroying a new Earth] I plated this garden, Psycho-Pirate. I have every right to tend to it.

 * Superman, the greatest hero on Earth-Two. My father, Lex Luthor, the greatest hero on Earth Three. The universe says Supermen and Luthors are destined to be at odds. Maybe the universe is wrong. I’ll fuse them together. It will work. It has to work. For the sake of reality.

 * You shouldn’t exist, Power Girl. Do you know how lucky you are? Trillions were erased But you slipped through the cracks.

 * I… I am like my father was. The only hero in a world full of villains.

 * “Heroes Save Earth,” the fools. It isn’t saved. But it will be. It will just take another plan. My calculations have already begun. I will make this world a brighter place. I will make it perfect.

Batman

 * Everyone looks up to you. They listen to you. If you tell them to fight, they'll fight. But they need to be inspired. And let's face it, "Superman" ... the last time you really inspired anyone was when you were dead. -- Infinite Crisis #1

 * …This wasn’t supposed to happen. …I can’t breathe. Can’t… do this anymore. God…

 * …I wish… …I just wish I could start over.

 * Booster. You have no idea how to talk to kids.

 * "He didn't deserve that. Superboy didn't deserve that. What do you deserve!?" - to Alexander Luthor.

Kal-L

 * A legend dies at the hands of another. I'm beginning to see. That's what this world does to legends. It corrupts them. Or it destroys them.

 * This dark and corrupted Earth must be forgotten, so the correct Earth can return.

 * I'm not the Superman you know. Not yet.

 * [about Superboy] His jaw clenches as he opens his shirt. For a moment, I see the man he could be instead of the boy he believes he is.

 * [thinking] The clouds part. The yellow sun welcomes me back. I can't help but smile. [to Power Girl] It's been a long' time, cousin. Too long.

 * [after Superboy Prime asks how Power Girl survived the last crisis] Or maybe she's still here because of her own will to live. My cousin has more of that than anyone from this earth.

 * The world’s finest heroes together again. Bruce… it would have been nice.

 * We’re here, Lois. We’re home.

 * [to Lois] We did it. We saved you.

 * Superman always saves Lois Lane.

 * [to Kal-El] You. You killed my wife!

 * A perfect world doesn’t need a Superman… Alex.

 * I thought their Superboy was unworthy of the symbol I built. But I picked the wrong one to condone. And the wrong one to condemn.

Superman

 * They're scared of us because of you. They've been broadcasting those images non-stop, Diana. Don't you understand? They all watched you. They all watched you murder a man. -- to Wonder Woman, Infinite Crisis #1

 * A perfect Earth doesn't need a Superman.

 * [to Superboy-Prime] You'll never be Superman. Because you have no idea what it means to be Superman. It's not about where you were born. Or what powers you have. Or what you wear on your chest. It's about what you do... it's about action.

 * [looking at an old picture of the paper announcing his death] Bruce is right, Lois. He's always right.

 * [after catching the top half of a skyscraper] I got it.

 * [to Kal-L] If we’re at all alike beyond the uniform-- I know how much you loved her. And I’m sorry.

 * They murdered Superboy. And now they say they’re going to take my city. Then they’re going to take Earth. I say… like hell.

 * When Earth needs us standing together again, we find a way. No matter what.

Superboy-Prime

 * Actually, you can call me Superboy... PRIME!

 * Are you going to let Lois die, Power Girl?

 * You fooled everyone into thinking you're actually Superboy. You don't even have a cape!

 * Stop hitting me!

 * I'm not stupid!

 * [after decapitating Pantha] ...Oh no! ...I didn't mean to do that.

 * Why are you making me? Why?!

 * You're ruining everything! You're ruining ME!!

 * You're making me like you!

 * The Phantom Zone is for criminals! I'm a good guy!

 * You can't get rid of me! When I grow up, I'm gonna be Superman! Don't any of you understand?!

 * [when Conner calls him a hypocrite] What does that word even mean? You probably think you're smart. You're not.

 * I'm bringing back Earth-Prime and no one will know what I did to do it! No one.

 * Where do you think you’re going? Where?! You can’t send me back into the Speed Force. You’re not fast enough. Oh. I see where you’ve brought me now. To the place this Krypton exploded. But this Kryptonite isn’t from my universe. It won’t hurt me. All you’re going to do is kill this Superman. I mean, did you think these rocks would stop me? Hahahahaha! Did you really? [eyes widen as he realizes they’re taking him into the red sun]

 * I've been in worse places than this...and I always find a way out.

Wonder Woman

 * [to Superman] Of all people, you know who I am... ...who the world needs me to be. I'm Wonder Woman.

 * [to Batman] You've lost your way.

 * Listen to me Artemis. The O.M.A.C.S are its Eyes. Brother Eye is showing the world everything that is happening here. They see us in pursuit of war. They see us as bloodthirsty warriors. They see us as Kal and Bruce see me. Shut that weapon down!

Donna Troy

 * Something out there is going to threaten everything we care about-- and a few seconds is going to make all the difference.

 * “A few seconds will make all the difference.” That’s what the Titans meant… I can see it… they’re going to die.

 * Superman and Wonder Woman are going to die.

Buddy Baker/Animal Man

 * Every creature on the planet wants off. I need to find out why--

 * [after taking an orb to New Cronus] I feel like roadkill.

 * Everybody step back. I don’t know what kind of animal I’m syncing up with out here… but it shoots lightning out of its face.

Others

 * Artemis: [about the O.M.A.C.S] These things are like the hydra, Diana. We disable one and two arrive in its place.

 * Nightwing: Donna...? Whatever you're doing... ...I hope it's worth leaving earth for.

 * Zauriel: [at a mass for all the heroes] God works in mysterious ways. Each one of us was gifted through chance or purpose. With powers and skills beyond those of mortal men. We were given a new reason for being. We come here together sharing that common bond. We ask you, Lord, to take care of those that have already fallen. We ask you to watch over those that have been injured and those that are missing. We look to You to give us the strength we will need for the trials that surely lie ahead. And above all, we offer our faith in each other and in a better tomorrow. Lord hear our prayer.

 * Blue Beetle/Jaime Reyes: I don’t even know how the hell I got here. Some kind of scarab crawled into me and put this suit on me and now… I’m in Space. With Batman. Looking for an invisible satellite.

 * Psycho-Pirate: I can feel them. Phantom beings from the fabric of Earth-One and Earth-Two, pulled from their restful peace, reborn in pain and given essence-- then destroyed. Billions at a time.

 * Power Girl: Alex. You have a lot to answer for.

 * Black Adam: [after killing Psycho-Pirate] No more silly faces.

 * Superboy: Guys. Down there. He’s back. Superboy’s back.

 * Martian Manhunter: [fighting Superboy-Prime] I do not know who you are. But I am called the Martian Manhunter. I am Mars’ sole survivor. [Superboy-Prime fires heat vision at him, but MM becomes intangible and it passes right through him] There is a reason for that.

 * Brother Eye: [to Batman, about Nightwing] He is only flesh and blood. Against a boy of steel. Eye wonder… will you blame yourself for what happens next?

 * Hal Jordan: The Society has broken open every metahuman prison on the planet. They’re declaring war on us. They say if Superman’s city falls-- the others will follow.

 * Martian Manhunter: [telepathically communicating with the other heroes] I have read this Superboy’s mind. So now you have too. He is heading for Oa. He wants to destroy this universe. I urge any and all of you who can-- take to the skies.

 * Guy Gardner: Three-hundred-mile-thick wall of pure damn willpower slowed him down. Thin green line will stop ‘im cold.

Dialogue

 * Nightwing: So you're really going to go?
 * Donna Troy: Kory and Vic are coming. And others like Supergirl.
 * Supergirl: My cousin's not exactly thrilled with the idea, but hey... ...saving the universe sounds pretty cool to me.
 * Nightwing: You just came back to us Donna.
 * Donna Troy: I'll be back again.

 * Wonder Woman: I told you the world doesn't need Diana. The world needs WONDER WOMAN.
 * Superman: And Wonder Woman killed Maxwell Lord.

 * Batman: You've lost faith.
 * Wonder Woman: The world is not as black and white as you and Kal see it.
 * Batman: Diana... you should've stayed in Paradise.
 * Wonder Woman: And you should stop judging everyone but yourself. You've lost your way.
 * Superman: And you've lost yours. You're trying to help people you can't even relate to, Diana.
 * Batman: And you relate to them too much. You're not human. You're Superman.
 * Superman: I know that.
 * Batman: Then start acting like it. All hell has broken loose and you're on the moon with me? The world needs you.

 * (the Freedom Fighters, a minor superteam, are investigating supervillain activity)
 * Black Condor: Why doesn't someone tell this to Superman? Or the Justice League?
 * Human Bomb: The brass said there was some kinda explosion on the Moon tonight. They're probably dealing with that... and with what Wonder Woman did. Not that I blame her. Back in the war, sometimes your hand was forced.
 * Uncle Sam: Don't make it right, Roy.
 * (later, the team's younger members are killed by villains)
 * Human Bomb: Get away from them! (to himself) Not Dee too. Not...
 * Doctor Polaris: Oh, she's dead, Human Bomb. Didn't you hear that delicious shriek?
 * Human Bomb: You... murderers! You want war, Polaris?
 * [Human Bomb powers up to explode, Polaris realizes the depth of his mistake]
 * Human Bomb:[final words] Die!
 * Human Bomb:[final words] Die!

 * Power Girl: Who are you?
 * Kal-L: I'm Superman.
 * Power Girl: You're not the Superman I know.
 * Kal-L: Not yet.

 * Brother Eye: Wonder Woman and the Amazons of Themyscira are a threat that must be eliminated...
 * ''(The computer screen shows an army of cyborgs attacking Themyscira to minimal resistence.
 * Batman:: No. Shut them down... Stop them!
 * Brother Eye: Eye will continue to act against the metahumans. Eye will destroy the Amazons. Eye will continue to act as you programmed me to do.

 * Wonder Woman: Listen to me. You must go.
 * Artemis: Go?
 * Wonder Woman: Paradise Island must retreat.
 * Fury: Retreat to where?
 * Phillipus: Away from Man’s World. She’s asking us to leave this plane.
 * Artemis: Diana.
 * Wonder Woman: You must. Before the O.M.A.C.S regroup. Before more blood is on our hands and theirs. If you value our legacy of peace, you will go.
 * Artemis: Then it is decided.
 * Wonder Woman: And I hope the gods hear our prayers.

 * Batman: And what about Dick Grayson?
 * Kal-L: Yes?
 * Batman: Is he a better man on your Earth than he is on mine?
 * Kal-L: No.
 * Batman: I didn't think so.

 * Nightwing: Why would a Superman do this? Why would he risk everything?
 * Batman: To save someone he loves.
 * Nightwing: Why come to me?
 * Batman: Because everyone else trusts you. They always have. You’ve put an importance on keeping up relationships that I neglected. You care.
 * Nightwing: So do you. You just let everyone think different.

 * (Flash and Kid Flash are trying to trap Superboy-Prime in the Speed Force)
 * Flash: Don't stop running, Bart. Don't stttoooooooppp--
 * (Flash is suddenly torn from the group by something we can't see. The scene cuts to Linda Park, the Flash's wife, and their newborn children, who are visited by an ethereal vision of the Flash)
 * Flash: Linda...
 * Linda: Wally - ?
 * Flash: You've always been my lightning rod. You're what's kept my feet on the ground so many times. And I love you more than anything in this world. Anything. But I have to keep running.
 * Linda: Where are you running to? That dimension that gives you your powers? The Speed Force? Is that--?
 * Flash: No... not the Speed Force... I think... someplace else. [in tears] I have to let go of everything.
 * Linda: (in tears, clearly determined) No you don't. Wherever you're going --
 * (Linda takes up both babies, steps up to the ethereal Flash and kisses him)
 * Linda: --your family's coming with you.
 * (All four of them disappear in a flash of lightning, which flies after Kid Flash, opening a door to the Speed Force)
 * Kid Flash: Wally! Wally, where are you going?! I can't do this! I can't do this alone!
 * Superboy-Prime: You're right. You're even weaker than the rest. You've always been stupid. I watched you. Stupid little kid. Left all alone.
 * Kid Flash: Shut up!(punches Superboy-Prime) I'm - not - stupid!
 * Barry Allen: Bart.
 * (Hand reaches out of the Speed Force, securing Superboy-Prime. It is followed by a face - it is Barry Allen, Kid Flash's grandfather in his Flash costume)
 * Barry Allen: You're not alone either.

 * Ragman: Feels like the calm before the storm.
 * Mr. Terrific: And they want to hold a mass for everyone with a cape.

 * Zauriel: Lord hear our prayer.
 * Blue Devil: [obviously in pain] Lord hear our prayer.
 * Enchantress: What’s wrong with Blue Devil? The smoke. And that smell.
 * Nightmaster: He never did that before.
 * Detective Chimp: Danny’s a good Irish Catholic. Unfortunately, he’s also a human-turned-demon. Meanin’ his skin burns whenever he sets foot into God’s house.
 * Communicator: We’ve just received a report from Cave Carson. An earthquake has erupted across South India, another in Japan. Grace period’s over.
 * Blue Devil: Then let’s get the hell outta here. There’s people that need help.
 * Huntress: Amen.

 * Superboy: You know who these psychos are, right?
 * Nightwing: Yeah.
 * Superboy: Well, I know where they are. Everybody else inside?
 * Nightwing: Everybody else is busy keeping our Earth from falling apart. It’s just us.
 * Superboy: You gotta be kiddin’ me. What do you want to do?
 * Nightwing: What we have to. Let’s shut these guys down.

 * Flash: I… I made it. I’m back.
 * Doctor Light: Flash?!
 * Flash: …you have to tell them… find them… warn them.
 * Doctor Light: What are you talking about?
 * Flash: LISTEN TO ME! We couldn’t hold him! He escaped! He’s coming!
 * Doctor Light: Who?
 * Flash: HIM! Superboy Prime!

 * Green Arrow: Are you whistling  “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”
 * Hal Jordan: What?
 * Green Arrow: You’re whistling  “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” . What do hundreds of earths in the sky threatening to destroy ours have to do with baseball?
 * Hal Jordan: Nothing. Just looking forward to the new season. Starts next week. Guy’s got Yankees tickets on the dugout. You wanna go?
 * Green Arrow: Crackerjack’s on me.

 * Kal-L: How can you still have faith in your Earth?
 * Superman: Because they still have faith in us.
 * Kal-L: …We have a job to do.

 * Green Arrow: [after Batman starts giving people orders on how to fight Brother Eye] Hey, Dark Knight. What about me? Why the hell’d you call a guy who an shoot trick arrows?
 * Batman: Just to see if you’d show.
 * Green Arrow: Brave and the Bold, huh? You got me all misty.

 * Black Lightning: So you really call yourself Mr. Terrific?
 * Mr. Terrific: You really call yourself Black Lightning?
 * Black Lightning: Hey, back when I started in this business, I was the only one of us around. I wanted to make sure everyone know who they were dealing with. Guess that’s why you’ve got your name stitched on to the back of your jacket.
 * Mr. Terrific: [smiling] Actually, it’s exactly why.

 * Donna Troy: “A few seconds will make all the difference.” That’s what the Titans meant… I can see it… they’re going to die.
 * Ion/Kyle Rayner: What? Who is, Donna?
 * Donna Troy: Superman and Wonder Woman are going to die.

 * Superboy-Prime: Nightwing? Come on now. You actually think you can fight me? All those Titans did too. Those stupid Titans. I'm going to tell you a secret. I wasn't even trying last time.
 * Superboy: Neither was I. ROUND TWO!

 * Brother Eye: You are wasting your time, Creator.
 * Batman: No, Brother Eye. I'm wasting yours. I'm not here to erase your memory. I'm here to distract you. I built you. And I put in a limited propulsion system designed to help adjust your orbit. One of my friends just activated that system. You've just been thrown out of orbit. It's over.
 * Brother Eye: No. NO1010110 If eye fall. Subject Alpha-- Wayne, Bruce-- Batman. You will fall with me.

 * Brother Eye: Why are you doing this to me, Creator? You can trust me to do what is right. You cannot trust them. You can never trust them again after all they have done.
 * Batman: I'll take my chances.

 * Wonder Girl: Conner? [sees Conner badly beaten, dying, under the rubble] CONNER?!
 * Superboy: He said I wasn’t the real Superboy. …he was wrong. I just forgot for a little while… we all forgot… don’t let them forget again.
 * Wonder Girl: Just hang in there, okay? You did it, Conner. You saved the Earth. You saved everyone.
 * Superboy: I know, Cass. Isn’t it cool?

 * Superman: It’s our fault. That should have been us.
 * Wonder Woman: I’m sorry, Clark.
 * Superman: Sorry isn’t going to help Superboy. We should have been here.
 * Batman: Never again. It never happens again. We learn from it. We learn from them.

 * Arsenal: Ollie it’s--
 * Green Arrow: Doomsday. The monster that killed Superman.
 * Arsenal: What do we do?
 * Green Arrow: Look up in the sky, kid. ''[Superman and Kal-L fly in and punch Doomsday together.

 * Flash: [attacking Superboy-Prime] You killed Conner! You killed my friend! Still got Flash phobia?
 * Superboy-Prime: Y-y-you… stay away from me, Bart!
 * Wonder Girl: Bart?!
 * Flash: [standing between her and Superboy-Prime] Long story, Cass.
 * Wonder Girl: You’re… old. And you’re the Flash?!
 * Flash: No. My grandpa’s uniform was the only thing that could survive the trip back. And I was the only one of us who could still run. I came to warn everyone. But when I got here, I collapsed. Passed out in Tokyo. I didn’t know Superboy-Prime would go after him again… [attacks Superboy-Prime again] ...after Conner. You’re road kill!

 * Kal-L: Superboy. Alex tricked us. He tricked the both of us. But it’s not too late to end this madness.
 * Superboy-Prime: I know, Superman. I’m going to be the one who ends it. [flies away] Faster than a speeding bullet.

 * Guy Gardner: Thin green line will stop ‘im cold.
 * Superboy-Prime: Cold? You don’t know cold. Cold is being the only survivor of an Earth that was erased from history. Cold is being imprisoned because you tried to do the right thing. Cold is what this universe has made me.
 * Guy Gardner: Code fifty-four Lanterns! Excessive force has been approved! And encouraged for this crybaby.
 * Superboy-Prime: You’re rude and offensive, Guy Gardner. [grabs Guy by the throat] I wonder who your ring is going to.

 * Batman: I know what Superman is going through. [picks up a gun from the ground] He doesn’t deserve that. Superboy didn’t deserve that. [holds gun to Alexander Luthor’s head] What do you deserve. [cocks gun]
 * Wonder Woman: Bruce. [takes out her sword and throws it to the ground] It’s not worth it.
 * Batman: [pulls gun back] I know. Dammit. [throws gun away]

 * Superman: [standing over an unconscious Kal-L] Superman.
 * Superboy-Prime: DIE! [attacks Superman from behind with his heat vision] Die and leave this universe to me. [his heat vision dissipates] My heat vision?! What’s happening?
 * Kal-L: YOU’RE LOSING!

 * Superboy-Prime: When you’re gone… I will be SUPERMAN!
 * Superman: Superman? You'll never be Superman. Because you have no idea what it means to be Superman.
 * Superboy-Prime: Yes, I do. I’m from Krypton! A better Krypton than yours ever was!
 * Superman: It's not about where you were born. Or what powers you have. Or what you wear on your chest.
 * Superboy-Prime: [punches Superman] SHUT UP!
 * [they trade blows until, finally, Superboy-Prime falls]
 * Superman: [extremely weak] It's about what you do... [falls to his knees] …it's about action.

 * Martian Manhunter: Superman? [helps him up]
 * Superman: I’m okay, J’onn. How’s--
 * Power Girl: Kal!
 * Kal-L: Kara… we stopped him. Superman stopped him.
 * Power Girl: You’re going to be fine. You have to be fine.
 * Kal-L: It’s okay.
 * Power Girl: No. Don’t leave me alone, Kal. Please, don’t leave me alone again. It can’t end this way.
 * Kal-L: Kara… I finally understand. I know what Lois was trying to tell me.
 * Power Girl: What are you talking about?
 * Kal-L: I’ll always be with you, Kara. Even if you can’t see me. I’ll always be here. It’s not going to end. It’s never going to end… for us… [looks up to a bright star and sees himself and Lois when they were younger] …Lois.

 * Bart Allen: Wally disappeared with Linda and the twins. I spent the last couple of years in a place that’s not going to be easy to explain.
 * Jay Garrick: And you came back running. I thought the Speed Force was destroyed.
 * Bart Allen: It was. I had some residual speed locked inside me. But I used it all up in Metropolis. I’m not fast anymore. But according to all these tests, you still are, right?
 * Jay Garrick: It has nothing to do with the Speed Force. My metahuman gene is active. I’d guess I’d top out at the speed of sound.
 * Bart Allen: Well, I’m done running. I’m not the new Flash. From here on out, Jay-- you’re the fastest man alive again.

 * Alexander Luthor: [after being attacked by the Joker] H-help. Somebody h-h-
 * Lex Luthor: Oh, Alex. You made a lot of mistakes. You underestimated Superman. Superboy. Me. But the biggest one?
 * Alexander Luthor: N-no. P-please…
 * Lex Luthor: You didn’t let the Joker play.
 * [a gunshot is heard, followed by maniacal laughter]
 * Lex Luthor: Now who’s stupid?

 * Bruce Wayne: What’s in your future, Diana?
 * Diana: I think it’s time to find out who Diana is.
 * Clark Kent: I can suggest a way to clear your perspective.
 * Bruce Wayne: That’s what I’ll be doing when I retrace the steps I first took when I left Gotham. I’ll be rebuilding Batman. But this time it’s going to be different.
 * Diana: How?
 * Tim Drake: [from a ship, with Dick Grayson] Hey, Bruce! C’mon! Let’s go!
 * Bruce Wayne: I’m not going alone.
 * Clark Kent: I know we’ll always have our differences, but at the end of the day we all want the same thing. Justice.

 * Bruce Wayne: Take care of yourselves. [boards ship]
 * Clark Kent: [to Diana] Do you need a ride somewhere?
 * Diana: Thanks. I have one. [flies up to invisible jet] Clark?
 * Clark Kent: Yeah?
 * Diana: It’s good to have friends. [she flies away]
 * Lois Lane: A world without Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, huh?
 * Clark Kent: For now, Lois.
 * Lois Lane: And what are you going to do with all this free time, Mr. Kent?
 * Clark Kent: [kisses Lois] I’m sure I’ll figure out something. But until we’re back--I’d say things are in good hands.

title: Infinite Crisis


text:
Bartolomé de las Casas

Bartolomé de las Casas (November 1484 – July 1566) was a 16th-century Spanish historian, social reformer and Dominican friar. He became the first resident Bishop of Chiapas, and the first officially appointed "Protector of the Indians". His extensive writings, the most famous being A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies and Historia de Las Indias, chronicle the first decades of colonization of the West Indies and focus particularly on the atrocities committed by the colonizers against the indigenous peoples.

In Defense of the Indians (1548)

 * as translated by Stafford Poole (Northern Illinois University Press: 1992)

 * Men, from their early years, are reared in the midst of goods of the body and senses, the source of corrupt behavior, and, because they constantly deal with them, know them better. But spiritual things, the goods of reason, and things intellectual, which are far removed from the senses, they do not know as well. Because they understand and are always dealing with material things, but spiritual things are not so readily evident, it happens that men, for the most part, are plunged into sinful conduct.
 * p. 37

 * Christ wanted love to be called his single commandment. This we owe to all men. Nobody is excepted.
 * p. 39

 * Christ seeks souls, not property. ... He who wants a large part of mankind to be such that ... he may act like a ferocious executioner toward them, press them into slavery, and through them grow rich, is a despotic master, not a Christian; a son of Satan, not of God; a plunderer, not a shepherd.
 * p. 40

History of the Indies (1561)

 * And never have the Indians in all the Indies committed any act against the Spanish Christians, until those Christians have first and many times committed countless cruel aggressions against them or against neighboring nations.

 * More than thirty other islands in the vicinity of San Juan are for the most part and for the same reason depopulated, and the land laid waste.

 * We can estimate very surely and truthfully that in the forty years that have passed, with the infernal actions of the Christians, there have been unjustly slain more than twelve million men, women, and children. In truth, I believe without trying to deceive myself that the number of the slain is more like fifty million.

 * After the wars and the killings had ended, when usually there survived only some boys, some women, and children, these survivors were distributed among the Christians to be slaves.

 * And of all the infinite universe of humanity, these people are the most guileless, the most devoid of wickedness and duplicity, the most obedient and faithful to their native masters and to the Spanish Christians whom they serve.

 * These people are the most devoid of rancors, hatreds, or desire for vengeance of any people in the world.

 * Their reason for killing and destroying such an infinite number of souls is that the Christians have an ultimate aim, which is to acquire gold, and to swell themselves with riches in a very brief time and thus rise to a high estate disproportionate to their merits.

 * It should be kept in mind that their insatiable greed and ambition, the greatest ever seen in the world, is the cause of their villainies.

 * With my own eyes I saw Spaniards cut off the nose and ears of Indians, male and female, without provocation, merely because it pleased them to do it. ...Likewise, I saw how they summoned the caciques and the chief rulers to come, assuring them safety, and when they peacefully came, they were taken captive and burned.

 * They laid bets as to who, with one stroke of the sword, could split a man in two or could cut off his head or spill out his entrails with a single stroke of the pike.

 * They took infants from their mothers' breasts, snatching them by the legs and pitching them headfirst against the crags or snatched them by the arms and threw them into the rivers, roaring with laughter and saying as the babies fell into the water, "Boil there, you offspring of the devil!"

 * They attacked the towns and spared neither the children nor the aged nor pregnant women nor women in childbed, not only stabbing them and dismembering them but cutting them to pieces as if dealing with sheep in the slaughter house.

 * They made some low wide gallows on which the hanged victim's feet almost touched the ground, stringing up their victims in lots of thirteen, in memory of Our Redeemer and His twelve Apostles, then set burning wood at their feet and thus burned them alive.

 * With still others, all those they wanted to capture alive, they cut off their hands and hung them round the victim's neck, saying, "Go now, carry the message," meaning, Take the news to the Indians who have fled to the mountains.

 * They made a grid of rods which they placed on forked sticks, then lashed the victims to the grid and lighted a smoldering fire underneath, so that little by little, as those captives screamed in despair and torment, their souls would leave them.

 * The Indians were totally deprived of their freedom and were put into the harshest, fiercest, most horrible servitude and captivity which no one who has not seen it can understand. Even beasts enjoy more freedom when they are allowed to graze in the field.

title: Bartolomé de las Casas