(no subject)

[proximoception]

"Some young people seem more uncertain of the future than we were after the Second World War, when we had hope that it would never happen again." Geoffrey Hartman in an interview.

I know he didn't mean this, but: Hope that the future would never happen again.

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[proximoception.livejournal.com]

Reminding me of the Joyce line but also this, which I find unbearably poignant at times:

The Next War, Wilfred Owen
"War's a joke for me and you,/While we know such dreams are true."--Siegfried Sassoon

Out there, we've walked quite friendly up to Death;
Sat down an eaten with him, cool and bland, -
Pardoned his spilling mess-tins in our hand.
We've sniffed the green thick odour of his breath, -
Our eyes wept, but our courage didn't writhe.
He's spat at us with bullets and he's coughed
Shrapnel. We chorused when he sang aloft;
We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe.

Oh, Death was never enemy of ours!
We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum.
No soldier's paid to kick against his powers.
We laughed, knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars; when each proud fighter brags
He wars on Death - for lives; not men - for flags.

[all-unnecessary.livejournal.com]

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