Quote #8

People must never be allowed to become despondent; so victories must be exaggerated and defeats, if not concealed, at any rate minimized, and the stimulus of indignation , horror, and hatred must be assiduously and continuously pumped into the public mind by means of 'propaganda.'

More from Arthur Ponsonby

  1. Lying, as we all know, does not take place only in war-time. Man, it has been said, is not 'a veridical animal,' but his habit of lying is …
  2. The use of the weapon of falsehood is more necessary in a country where military conscription is not the law of the land than in countries …
  3. Falsehood is a recognized and extremely useful weapon in warfare, and every country uses it quite deliberately to deceive its own people, t…
  4. A Government which has decided on embarking on the hazardous and terrible enterprise of war must at the outset present a one-sided case in …
  5. The object of this volume is not to cast fresh blame on authorities and individuals, nor is it to expose one nation more than another to ac…
  6. At the outset the solemn asseverations of monarchs and leading statesmen in each nation that they did not want war must be placed on a par …
  7. When war is declared, truth is the first casualty.
  8. War being established as a recognized institution to be resorted to when Governments quarrel, the people are more or less prepared. They qu…

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