“Oh, your prudery; oh, your squeamish respectability; all the abominations are allowed to *happen*, but no one may mention them. Delicate women must not know anything or say anything about blood and filth… There is nothing indecent about death and killing as far as you are concerned, you well brought up little ladies…”

“[T]he way [respectable] conversation customarily handles a new movement that strives to create a big upheaval: with an expression of prudent doubt and reservation, gentle ridicule, condescending recognition of the noble cause — and all of that against a background of unmoving, rigid indifference.”

— Bertha von Suttner, 1889

On dinner parties and war criminals
Tagged on:             

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *