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unhinged
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'...knowing there is a light in man, i could never have dared seek it; for list is not, i believe, the same as political consciousness, and it can exist in fools, monks, boys who dislike social duties, and kulaks. knowing there is crime in man, i could never have pointed it out; for i would have had to believe, as does my friend, that crime is product of history and not of human beings. there are past crimes: hundreds of thousand of poles deported in the year 1940-41, those who were shot, or those who were drowned in the arctic ocean. but one must learn to forgive. i am concerned with the crimes that are being, and will continue to be, committed. crimes in the name of the new and radiant man; crimes committed to the sound of orchestras and choruses, to the blare of loudspeakers and the recitation of optimistic poems.
now i am homeless - a just punishment. but herhapes i was born so that the 'eternal slaves' might speak through my lips. why should i spare myself? should i renounce what is probably the sole duty of a poet only in order to make sure that my verse would be printed in an anthology edited by the state publishing house? my friend accepts naked terror, whatever name he may choose to give it. we have parted ways. whether the side on which i now find myself is the future victor or the future victim is not the issue here. but i know that if my friend tastes the sweet fruits of victory, this planet will be improved according to plan for centuries - but woe to him who lives to see this happen. all over the world people are now sleeping in their beds, or perhaps they are engaging in some idiotic pastime; and one might easily believe that each in his own way is doing his best to deserve destruction. but that destruction will bring no freedom. should the power my friend worships turn out not to be historical necessity, the earth will enter a period of terrible wars and bloody revolutions. but the quest will never end, and hope will always remain.' - czeslaw_milosz
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180905
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