Someday, I have no doubt, the dead from today's wars will be seen with a similar sense of sorrow at needless loss and folly as those millions of men who lie in the cemeteries of France and Belgium - and tens of millions of Americans will feel a similar revulsion for the politicians and generals who were so spendthrift with others' lives.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the futility of war and the future perspective of those who suffer its consequences.
Adam Hochschild's quote expresses the belief that, in the future, society will view the casualties of current wars with deep sorrow and regret, much like how we view the soldiers buried in cemeteries from past conflicts. It critiques the leaders who so carelessly expend lives for their agendas, suggesting that, with time, people will recognize the senselessness and tragedy of such actions.
In practice
During a memorial speech for veterans, one might use this quote to emphasize the costs of war.
For the better part of two centuries, outsiders have been offering explanations that range from racist to learned-sounding - the supposed inferiority of blacks, the heritage of slavery, overpopulation - for why Haiti remains the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
What can be seen on earth points to neither the total absence nor the obvious presence of divinity, but to the presence of a hidden God. Everything bears this mark.
I hate endings. Just detest them. Beginnings are definitely the most exciting, middles are perplexing and endings are a disaster. … The temptation towards resolution, towards wrapping up the package, seems to me a terrible trap. Why not be more honest with the moment? The most authentic endings are the ones which are already revolving towards another beginning. That’s genius.
Night is a time of rigor, but also of mercy. There are truths which one can see only when it’s dark
The more stupid one is, the closer one is to reality. The more stupid one is, the clearer one is. Stupidity is brief and artless, while intelligence squirms and hides itself. Intelligence is unprincipled, but stupidity is honest and straightforward.
Objective journalism is one of the main reasons that American politics has been allowed to be so corrupt for so long.
Gardening is the handiest excuse for being a philosopher. Nobody guesses, nobody accuses, nobody knows, but there you are, Plato in the peonies, Socrates force-growing his own hemlock. A man toting a sack of blood manure across his lawn is kin to Atlas letting the world spin easy on his shoulder.
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