“Ah, what an age it is
When to speak of trees is almost a crime
For it is a kind of silence about injustice!”

—  Bertolt Brecht

A response to the Nazi book burnings, in "To Posterity" (1939) as translated by H. R. Hays (1947)
Context: Do not treat me in this fashion. Don't leave me out. Have I not
Always spoken the truth in my books? And now
You treat me like a liar! I order you:
Burn me!
Those who lead the country into the abyss
Call ruling too difficult
For ordinary men.
Ah, what an age it is
When to speak of trees is almost a crime
For it is a kind of silence about injustice!

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Bertolt Brecht 102
German poet, playwright, theatre director 1898–1956

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