Whoever saw, as many did, a whole city reduced to rubble - kilometers of streets on which there remained no trace of life, not even a cat, not even a homeless dog - emerged with a rather ironic attitude toward descriptions of the hell of the big city by contemporary poets, descriptions of the hell in their own souls. A real 'wasteland' is much more terrible than any imaginary one. Whoever has not dwelt in the midst of horror and dread cannot know how strongly a witness and participant protests against himself, against his own neglect and egoism. Destruction and suffering are the school of social thought.
More from Ceslaw Milosz
It is impossible to communicate to people who have not experienced it the undefinable menace of total rationalism.
Permalink to quote #43 Human material seems to have one major defect: it does not like to be considered merely as human material. It finds it hard to endure the feeling that it must …
Permalink to quote #45 The masses in highly industrialized countries like England, the United States, or France are largely de-Christianized. Technology, and the way of life it produ…
Permalink to quote #42