| Author Quoted | Joseph Jean Lanza del Vasto |
| Title Quoted | Pelerinage aux Sources |
| Date (Year/Month/Day) | 1962/06/05 |
| Imprint | Paris : [s.n.]. 1943I |
| Quotation | Lanza del Vasto has seen a deep connection between play and war. Our society totally devoted to one (everything is a game) necessarily ends in the other. Play -is aimless, and multiplies obstacles so that the "aim," which does not exist, may not be obtained by the other player. Getting a ball in a hole. "La guerre c'est le grand vice public qui insiste à jouer avec le sang des hommes." ["War is the great public vice that insists on playing with the blood of men."] War is not caused by hunger or by need. It is the powerful and the rich who make war. The beauty of the grave: it demands a suppression of conscience, and this is done as a matter of "sacrific" and "duty." To sacrifice conscience, and then "let go" and kill, for the exaltation of one's nation, mad with the need for systematic irresponsibility. Reproach them for this, refuse them their outlet, and they will slaughter you. |
| Journal | Turning Toward the World: The Pivotal Years. The Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 4, 1960-1963.; Edited by Victor A. Kramer. / San Francisco : Harper Collins. 1996, p. 224 |
| Link to Merton's Copy |
|