You ask what my conclusions are, rereading my journals and looking back on World War II from the vantage point of quarter century in time? We won the war in a military sense; but in a broader sense, it seems to me we lost it, for our Western civilization is less respected and secure than it was before.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the outcomes of World War II, suggesting that while the conflict was won militarily, it has resulted in a decline in the respect and security of Western civilization.
Charles Lindbergh's reflection on World War II reveals a complex view that celebrates military victory while lamenting the long-term consequences for Western civilization. He suggests that the war may have weakened the societal and moral foundations that form the bedrock of Western society, leading to a future where it is less respected and secure. This insight encourages us to consider not just the immediate results of conflict but also the far-reaching implications on culture and civilization.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a discussion about the impacts of global conflicts on society.
How long can men thrive between walls of brick, walking on asphalt pavements, breathing the fumes of coal and of oil, growing, working, dying, with hardly a thought of wind, and sky, and fields of grain, seeing only machine-made beauty, the mineral-like quality of life?
In wilderness I sense the miracle of life.
Science, freedom, beauty, adventure: what more could you ask of life?
In honoring the Wright Brothers, it is customary and proper to recognize their contribution to scientific progress. But I believe it is equally important to emphasize the qualities in their pioneering life and the character in man that such a life produced. The Wright Brothers balanced sucess with modesty, science with simplicity. At Kitty Hawk their intellects and senses worked in mutual support. They represented man in balance, and from that balance came wings to lift a world.
We are in the grip of a scientific materialism, caught in a vicious cycle where our security today seems to depend on regimentation and weapons which will ruin us tomorrow.
We are in grave danger of losing forever not just millions of years of evolution on earth, but the eons of change that have produced man and his natural environment.
But an old age serene and bright, and lovely as a Lapland night, shall lead thee to thy grave.
It is important to look at death because it is a part of life. It is a sad thing, melancholy but romantic at the same time. It is the end of a cycle - everything has to end. The cycle of life is positive because it gives room for new things.
To live past the end of your myth is a perilous thing.
You have to ask yourself the question 'Who am I?' This investigation will lead in the end to the discovery of something within you which is behind the mind. Solve that great problem and you will solve all other problems.
Prayer does not use up artificial energy, doesn't burn up any fossil fuel, doesn't pollute. Neither does song, neither does love, neither does the dance.
Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war.
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