“ Men will not always die quietly. For starvation, which brings to some lethargy and a helpless despair, drives other temperaments to the nervous instability of hysteria and to a mad despair. ”
John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919). copy citation
| Author | John Maynard Keynes |
|---|---|
| Source | The Economic Consequences of the Peace |
| Topic | despair hysteria |
| Date | 1919 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15776/15776-h/15776-h.htm |
Context
“The danger confronting us, therefore, is the rapid depression of the standard of life of the European populations to a point which will mean actual starvation for some (a point already reached in Russia and approximately reached in Austria) . Men will not always die quietly. For starvation, which brings to some lethargy and a helpless despair, drives other temperaments to the nervous instability of hysteria and to a mad despair. And these in their distress may overturn the remnants of organization, and submerge civilization itself in their attempts to satisfy desperately the overwhelming needs of the individual. This is the danger against which all our resources and courage and idealism must now co-operate.”
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