from Dragon Harvest (1946)
“the fate of dictators to have to listen to flattery and to grow more susceptible to it. There are few who dare to say No in their presence, and it becomes less and less tolerable to them to hear that presumptuous word.”
*****
“Once Hitler announces his decision, they all fall into line, like so many humble rookies. The reason for that is, not so much that they trust Hitler—many of them privately think he’s a bit cracked—but they know he’s managed to get the German people behind him. That is the basis of his power—that, and his luck; he’s managed to get away with one thing after another, and of course every concession by the rest of the world increases that prestige, makes him bolder and his people more adoring.” Said F.D.R.: “I have the feeling that we are drifting into a frightful calamity.”
*****
“We have very few Congressmen and Senators who represent the public,” was the reply. “Most of them represent the interests which put up their campaign funds last time and are expected to do it next time.”
****
“These refugees from a score of lands, including the sweet land of liberty overseas, talked politics and war incessantly, but when you listened you discovered that what they were thinking about was their own comfort, the preservation of the system which made their own lives so easy. What was going to happen to the “market”?—by which they meant the stocks and bonds from which their incomes were derived.
