“No violence can make invisible what has been seen”
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February 10 marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of Bertolt Brecht. During the years of the National Socialist Party in Germany, Brecht was one of its most striking and consistent critics, who tried to unite German and world cultural figures around the idea of \u200b\u200bjoint resistance to militarism and oppression. We re-read his plays and articles and chose the best quotes.
1
Unfortunate is the country that needs heroes.
“Life of Galileo”
2
You know, you can deal with barbarians in a barbaric way. It is this very desire to act like a barbarian that makes governments call their enemies barbarians.
“Food Culture”
3
Listen to the big gentlemen – they seem to be waging a war for faith, truth and other beautiful things. And when you look closely, you see: they are not such fools, they are fighting for the sake of a profit.
“Mother Courage and her children”
4
Will the Germans shoot at the Germans? There is only one answer: if they do not want to talk to each other, they will shoot each other.
“An open letter to German artists and writers”
5
If you create armies, conflicts will be resolved by military means.
“An open letter to German artists and writers”
6
And yet nothing can convince me that fighting against the enemies of reason in the name of its triumph is a hopeless cause. Let’s repeat what has already been said a thousand times! It is better to repeat once again than to remain silent when what has been said could have had an effect.
“Congress of Peoples for Peace”
7
Very few were able to see the connection between the reactionary restrictions on culture and the ensuing attacks on the very physical existence of the people.
“Appeal to the Congressional Committee”
8
Can culture take care of itself? Can she strike the enemy herself? She’s already putting them on – so maybe! This struggle goes through different stages. First, individual cultural figures try to dissociate themselves from the atrocities that are happening in their countries. Often they do it still unconsciously, obeying the voice of conscience. But to call a spade a spade, that is, to call barbarism barbarism, means in this case to start a struggle, and in order to fight successfully, it is necessary to unite our forces. Uniting, cultural figures move from protest to appeal.
“Speech at the Second International Congress of Writers”
9
What a victory achieved by the fact that one man said no!
“Life of Galileo”
10
How can order be built without the wisdom of the masses? Whoever does not take them into account is unable to show the way to millions of people. Great teachers! When speaking, keep your ears open.
“Question”
eleven
For a long time it seemed that natural disasters affect only a certain part of the people and only a certain part of the habits of everyone and everyone. Only later it became obvious that everyday life has now lost its commonness altogether, and this equally applies to all people. A threat hung over the broad strata, but these broad strata were in no hurry to unite to protect their interests.
“The Philosopher’s Speech on Ignorance”
12
Surprisingly, mass psychoses, during which people are ready to harm others, are not much more common than psychoses, during which, without blinking an eye, people harm themselves. I’m talking about wars.
“Fears”
13
The propaganda of thought always benefits the cause of the oppressed. Such propaganda is essential. After all, where the government serves the oppressors, thinking is revered as a base deed.
“The Five Difficulties of a Truth Writer”
14
In times of the most severe oppression, most of all they talk about lofty matters. One must have the courage to talk about such trifles as the daily bread and the dwelling of the worker, under the incessant loud calls for self-sacrifice, which allegedly contains the whole meaning of life, in such times.
“The Five Difficulties of a Truth Writer”
15
It is necessary to turn not only to people of certain convictions, but also to people whose convictions would correspond to the conditions of their life. Remember that the beliefs of your listeners are not always fixed. Even executioners may heed your voice if they are no longer paid, or if their trade becomes dangerous to them; people change.
“The Five Difficulties of a Truth Writer”
16
In order not to lose a piece of bread in an era of growing oppression, others decided, without telling the truth about the crimes of the authorities committed in order to maintain oppression, in the same way not to spread the lies of those in power, in other words, not to expose anything, but not to embellish anything. The one who does this, at first glance, really decided not to lose face, but in fact he only decided not to lose a piece of bread.
“Joined”
17
Anyone who does not blink an eye at the sight of a bloody crime, thereby testifies that nothing special is happening. It helps a horrific atrocity look like something insignificant, like rain, and something inevitable, like rain. So, already by his silence he supports the criminal.
“Joined”
18
It is amazing to what extent the human ability to think can be damaged – whether we are talking about the mind of an individual or the mind of entire peoples and classes.
“A Speech on the Power of Mind Resistance”
19
No violence can make invisible what has already been seen.
“Life of Galileo”
20
If some commander or king is a full-blown fool and leads his people straight into a dunghill, then, of course, it is necessary that people not be afraid of death, and this is, after all, a virtue. In a good country, virtue is useless, there you can be ordinary people, not very smart and, for me, even cowards.
“Mother Courage and her children”
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