If the War Goes On…

There was once an American spirit, an American courage, an American manhood that did not express themselves in the uproar of the herd or in mass enthusiasm. The last great vehicle of that spirit was Nock, who, amid the business boom and sheeplike conformism that characterized the beginnings of the American empire, became an antipatriot and anti-American. In this little note I wish to remind the young American intellectuals of that man, of his courage and solitude, and in so doing turn their minds away from the outcry to a few simple facts and experiences of the soul.

Shamelessly adapted from “If the War Goes On….” Reflections on War and Politics, by Hermann Hesse