Epilogue.
Eichmann in Jerusalem (1963)
“It came down, once again, to the General Staff protecting itself, not wanting to admit its crime, an abomination that has been growing by the minute.”
—
Emile Zola
,
J’accuse…!
J'accuse! (1898)
Context: It came down, once again, to the General Staff protecting itself, not wanting to admit its crime, an abomination that has been growing by the minute.
In disbelief, people wondered who Commander Esterhazy's protectors were. First of all, behind the scenes, Lt. Colonel du Paty de Clam was the one who had concocted the whole story, who kept it going, tipping his hand with his outrageous methods. Next General de Boisdeffre, then General Gonse, and finally, General Billot himself were all pulled into the effort to get the Major acquitted, for acknowledging Dreyfus's innocence would make the War Office collapse under the weight of public contempt. And the astounding outcome of this appalling situation was that the one decent man involved, Lt. Colonel Picquart who, alone, had done his duty, was to become the victim, the one who got ridiculed and punished. O justice, what horrible despair grips our hearts? It was even claimed that he himself was the forger, that he had fabricated the letter-telegram in order to destroy Esterhazy. But, good God, why? To what end? Find me a motive. Was he, too, being paid off by the Jews? The best part of it is that Picquart was himself an anti-Semite. Yes! We have before us the ignoble spectacle of men who are sunken in debts and crimes being hailed as innocent, whereas the honor of a man whose life is spotless is being vilely attacked: A society that sinks to that level has fallen into decay.
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Do you have more details about the quote "It came down, once again, to the General Staff protecting itself, not wanting to admit its crime, an abomination that h…" by Emile Zola?
Emile Zola 54
French writer (1840-1902) 1840–1902Related quotes
Antonin Artaud
(1896–1948) French-Occitanian poet, playwright, actor and theatre director
Van Gogh, the Man Suicided by Society (1947)
Context: And what is an authentic madman? It is a man who preferred to become mad, in the socially accepted sense of the word, rather than forfeit a certain superior idea of human honor. So society has strangled in its asylums all those it wanted to get rid of or protect itself from, because they refused to become its accomplices in certain great nastinesses. For a madman is also a man whom society did not want to hear and whom it wanted to prevent from uttering certain intolerable truths.
“If it came down to that, I'd protect you in a heartbeat.”
Nicholas Sparks
(1965) American writer and novelist
Source: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Joseph McCarthy
(1908–1957) Wisconsin politician
Remark to Gen. Ralph Zwicker during the Army investigations (18 February 1954), as quoted in A Conspiracy So Immense (2005) by David M. Oshinsky
Boris Johnson
(1964) British politician, historian and journalist
2000s, 2008, First Speech As London Mayor (May 3, 2008)
Franz Marc
(1880–1916) German painter
Max Beckmann's opinion on this issue you find in: 'Quotes About Franz Marc', below
Source: 1915 - 1916, 100 Aphorisms', Franz Marc (1915), p. 445-446
Tony Blair
(1953) former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Philip Webster, "Blair sets sights on Downing Street", The Times, 22 July 1994.
Speech on being elected Leader of the Labour Party, 21 July 1994.
1990s
Source: Parable of the Talents (1998), Chapter 12 (p. 225)