Life is an art we are required to practice without preparation, a score that we play at sight even before we have mastered our instruments. - Lewis Mumford

Bloodshed kept pace with iron production: in essence, the entire paleotechnic period was ruled, from beginning to end, by the policy of blood and iron. The brutal contempt for life was equalled only by the almost priestly ritual it developed for inflicting death. Its "peace" was indeed the peace that passeth understanding: what was it but latent warfare.

Today, the degradation of the inner life is symbolized by the fact that the only place sacred from interruption is the private toilet.

Lonely courage played a part that mass obedience to the leader's command could never rival. Such courage produced heroes of the mind as well as of the battlefield, often in the same person.