BookRix

In Accordance With Classic Precedent, This Anthology Ought To Have
Consisted Of "1,001 Gems Of German Thought," I Have Been Content With
Half That Number, Not--Heaven Knows!--For Any Lack Of Material, But
Simply For Lack Of Time And Energy To Make The Ingathering. After All,
Enough Is As Good As A Feast, And I Think That The Evidence As To The
Dominant Characteristics Of German Mentality Is Tolerably Complete As
It Stands.



Though I Hope It Is Fairly Representative, The Collection Does Not
Pretend To Be Systematic. I Have Cast No Sweeping Drag-Net, But Have
Simply Dipped Almost At Random Into The Wide Ocean Of German Thought.
Some Of My Most Precious "Finds" I Have Come Upon By Pure Chance; And
By Pure Chance, Too, I Have No Doubt Missed Many Others. Some Books
That I Should Have Liked To Examine Have Not Been Accessible To Me;
And There Must Be Many Of Which I Have Never Heard. On The Other Hand,
The List Of Books From Which My Gems Have Been Selected By No Means
Indicates The Extent Of My Reading--Or Skimming. I Have Gone Through
Many Books And Pamphlets Which Furnished No Quotable Extracts, But
None That Diverged In Tone From The Rest, Or Marred The Majestic
Unison Of German Self-Laudation And Contempt For The Rest Of The
World. I Have Read Of (But Not Seen) A Book By One F.W. Förster Which
Is Said To Contain A Protest Against Theoretic War-Worship, And Even A
Mild Defence Of England. How Very Mild It Is We May Judge From This
Sentence: "England Has Given Us Not Only Men Like Lord Grey,
Scoundrels And Hypocrites, Who Have This War Upon Their Conscience; It
Has Also Given Us The Salvation Army," Etc., Etc.



One Voice The Reader May Be Surprised To Miss From The Great
Chorus--The Voice Of William The Second. He Is Unrepresented--Save In
One Passing Remark (No. 136)--For Two Reasons.