Land of the Oak-Tree and the Dullard 1

a group of Stylites and anchorites. Have the means of
communication become so worn, or is this due to the
sublimity and perfection of our intellects?

FRANK WEDEKIND, 1910

We value good character more than a wide province, obedi-
ence more than independence and intelligence. Zeal we value
more than calmness and the simple doing of one's duty, and
then we wonder why we have so many place-hunters and
Byzantines. The great Talleyrand was perhaps right when he
said: "Surtout pas trop de zele!"

COUNT ROBERT ZEDLITZ-TRUTZSCHLER, 1910

I can prove that the Germans are still a nation of poets and
thinkers. I possess a roll of toilet-paper, produced in Berlin,
which contains on every sheet a quotation from a classic in
keeping with the situation. KARL KRAUS, 1915

German uneasiness roars at the heavens like an ox in a lion's
fell. Even people who, in a restricted circle, are quite bear-
able citizens, feel that they must imitate Bramarbas directly
they appear before a wider public.

RICHARD DEHMEL, 1916

We have become the slaves of history; we have set the
knowledge of the history of civilizations in the place of
civilizing energy, and we have placed life under the dictator-
ship of learning. KARL SCHEFFLER, 1916

*

We were once the people of poets and thinkers ; we became
the people of rhetorical expressions, of inflated phrases.

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