Quotes from Albert Marrin

Words have consequences.

By the fall of 1918, it was clear that a nation's prosperity, even its very survival, depended on securing a safe, abundant supply of cheap oil.

It is in our best interest to. . . embark on a revolutionary change that will lead us away from oil dependency rather than drag our feet and suffer the costs of becoming growingly dependent on a diminishing resource.' Truer words were never written.

In the United States, influenza death rates were so high that the average life span fell by twelve years, from fifty-one in 1917 to thirty-nine in 1918. If you were a "doughboy"—slang for an American soldier—you had a better chance of dying in bed from flu or flu-related complications than from enemy action.

Edward Jenner's discovery of vaccination drew harsh criticism from the pulpit. Clergymen denounced the doctor for having put himself above God. Only the Almighty, they said, sends illness and only the Almighty cures it. Vaccination, critics charged, was "a diabolical operation," and its inventor was "flying in the face of Providence

White Christians often explained the disaster in a time-honored way: it was God's punishment of humanity for its sings. To the seven deadly sins--anger, greed, lust, envy, pride, laziness, gluttony--they added an eighth sin: 'worshiping science.

When the next pandemic comes, as it surely will someday, perhaps we will be ready to meet it. If we are not, the outcome will be very, very, very dreadful.

George Templeton Strong, a wealthy attorney and leader of high society, missed the old man. "Osawatomie John Brown

Nowadays, the disease claims, on average, 36,000 Americans each year, out of a population of 320 million. Contrast this with another number: 35,092 Americans died in motor vehicle accidents in 2015.

For propagandists, whatever promoted the Allied cause was true, whether factual or not. What counted was the noble end--victory--not the sordid means of achieving it. 'Truth and falsehood are arbitrary terms,' declared a CPI official. 'There is nothing in experience to tell us that one is always preferable to the other....There are lifeless truths and vital lies....The force of an idea lies in its inspirational value. It matters very little if it is true or false.

situation. He was of no color, John Brown, of no race or age. He was pure passion.… He was an elemental force like wind, rain, and fire."7

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said, the LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. —Judges 6:12

A Journal of the Plague Year

I believe in the Golden Rule and the Declaration of Independence. I think they both mean the same thing."3

God has given us a conscience superior to all law," said Wendell Phillips. The individual's conscience and the Golden Rule top any written law. There is such a thing as righteous lawbreaking.

cringed. What made him cringe was not fear but empathy, a basic human quality that allows one to identify with another's feelings.

Another Colorado town, Ouray, in the San Juan Mountains, went further. Ouray's sheriff hired guards to enforce a "shotgun" quarantine against outsiders. No matter: influenza got in anyway, infecting 150 townspeople. St. Louis, Missouri, barred soldiers and sailors on leave from entering the city.15

You could never trust a politician, Brown said, because "he was always ready to sacrifice his principles for his advantage." Presidents and members of Congress were, to him, "fiends clothed in human form," for they compromised with evil.

cause. There will be no more peace in this land until slavery is done for. I will give them something else to do than to extend slave territory.

Like most Americans at the time, national leaders did not consider the federal government responsible for the health and well-being of civilians. These were duties of families, churches, charities, and local authorities. As

goods—sugar, tobacco, rice, and indigo, a purple dye—to sell in Europe.

A house divided against itself cannot stand,' Ã¢â'¬Â he said in a high-pitched voice. "I believe this government cannot endure

Let not harsh tongues, that wag in vain, Discourage you. In spite of pain, Be like the cactus, which through rain, And storm, and thunder, can remain. —"Be Like the Cactus", a poem by Kimii Nagata

Abraham Lincoln on October 1, 1858, less than four months after his famous "House Divided" speech.