“…The powerful figure who assumes the right to destroy the enemy and who throws resisters in jail is not important;it is instead the jail guard who, despite orders to the contrary, cannot refrain from slipping a piece of bread to the prisoners now and then. We need to remind ourselves again and again that it is more important to act humanely towards the other than to fulfill any professional obligations or national obligations or political obligation.”
Also on that page: (SO GET Hans Bethe’s book The Road from Los Alamos)!
Humanity’s journey along the road to knowledge of nuclear reactions and energy has been a trial for us. Thus far we have avoided blowing ourselves off the Cosmic map. Anyone who reads Hans Bethe’s book The Road from Los Alamos, can see just how near we came to complete annihilation in the Cold War. Here too Werner has some words for us today:
“Earlier generations were able to build on the work of their ancestors. For our times the goal is of necessity a more modest one, since the old spiritual values have been molten down.Initially, we have no choice but to return to that which is simple; we must conscientiously attend to the duties and tasks which life itself places upon uswithout much questioning the whence and whither; we must pass on to the next generation that which we still deem beautiful, rebuild what was destroyed andput our trust in other people across the din of passions.”