“The American Civil War would have resulted in the utter ruin of the whole country had it not been that Grant, in the moment of victory, forgot all about Simon Legree, dismissed the whole howling of the wolves of the press as nonsense, and observed succinctly: Let us have peace.”
“Where such ideas are pushed to the limit the results are utterly abominable. We need only refer to the destruction of one of the finest races of the world, the American Indian, which was due to nothing but the conviction that he was a remorseless and treacherous savage.”
“We need not be afraid of an armistice; time is on our side, not theirs.”
“I am told that the German offers are not sincere. Then call the bluff by agreeing to the principle of conference.”
“They must argue that we who will not even discuss the question of peace can be none other than Huns. (Now I’ve said it!)”
“In such circumstances the German can hardly be blamed for thinking that we are set upon their utter destruction, and this thought is bound to destroy in them all considerations of mercy and kindness, or even ordinary reasonableness.”
“We reply, ‘Certainly not, you are monsters. On with the revel!’”
“Now one cannot help saying that the Germans have shown their good faith in this matter very clearly. They are always proposing ‘peace conferences,’ thereby indicating that we are not, as some of their publicists maintain, ‘a gang of enraged millionaires bent upon destroying German liberties as American liberties have already been destroyed,’ but a set of sensible people who want to settle down and live happily ever after.”
Pax Hominibus Bonae Voluntatis by Aleister Crowley in International, Dec 1917.
“Now one cannot help saying that the Germans have shown their good faith in this matter very clearly. They are always proposing ‘peace conferences,’ thereby indicating that we are not, as some of their publicists maintain, ‘a gang of enraged millionaires bent upon destroying German liberties as American liberties have already been destroyed,’ but a set of sensible people who want to settle down and live happily ever after.” [via]
Original Article
“In other words, let us quit fighting for a few weeks or months, and have a conference. If nothing happens, we can go on fighting again with renewed zest. Speaking as an Irishman, I might go further and suggest talking and fighting at the same time — an ideal state of affairs!”
“This may be a little difficult, as we have all forgotten what those points were; but at least we can try to come to some arrangement as to what is best to be done.”
“We should, therefore, say, ‘My dear friends, you are quite wrong in supposing that you are cornered. We do not wish to hurt you. We wish to come to an agreement with you on the points in dispute.’”
“Now what is the proper way to deal with people in this situation? There is only one sensible thing to do. We must remove the cause of their belief. Until we do this they are assuredly right in continuing to believe it.”
“It may be a delusion on their part; but they have it; and we have to act on the assumption that they have it.”
“How is it that the sentimental stay-at-home, domestic German becomes Giant Blunderbore? It is not a miracle. It is not an outbreak of collective sadism. It is simply the feeling that he is cornered. All Germans feel this.”
“The mildest of animals, if it feels itself cornered, will resort to every means of defense. Queensberry rules were not invented for men who are scrapping in a life and death combat.”
