As well suppose that the
passengers on a liner understand the engines, or soldiers a war.
Before men can think of to-morrow, they must think of to-day.
Before they can think of others, they must be sure about themselves.
First of all, food; the private, the personal economic worry. Am I
safe for food? Then sex, and until one is tranquil and not ashamed,
not irritated and dissatisfied, how can one care for other people,
or for next year or the Order of the World? How can one, Benham?"
He seized the illustration at hand. "Here we are in Warsaw--not a
month after bomb-throwing and Cossack charging. Windows have still
to be mended, smashed doors restored. There's blood-stains still on
some of the houses. There are hundreds of people in the Citadel and
in the Ochrana prison. This morning there were executions. Is it
anything more than an eddy in the real life of the place? Watch the
customers in the shops, the crowd in the streets, the men in the
cafes who stare at the passing women. They are all swallowed up
again in their own business.
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