A scientist, humanitarian and of royal birth, Kropotkin is a genius of the age; not only does his colossal intellect cause him to stand in bold relie… - Anna Strunsky

We progress, we develop ourselves ; then comes a call to arms, and all is swallowed up. The last vestiges of civilization are gone. We ourselves become war-mad. A reversal of everything takes place. Instead of preparing for life in its multitudinous and beautiful forms we prepare for death —night covers everything. We sink further into the slime of the abyss. We lose our humanity

The French Revolution brought into the world the conception of society, of the Third Estate. Before that we had institutions, religion, caste, government, but the people did not exist. The Revolution extended the idea of the people as far as the Rhine.

It is a universal suicide they are committing. In place of the fraternity which yesterday existed, there is distilled to-day the poisonous fumes of nationalistic patriotism which threatens to cover the earth with darkness for another fifty years.