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The combination of a profound hatred of war and militarism with an innocent delight in playing soldiers is one of these apparent contradictions of American life that one has to accept.

— Denis William Brogan The American Character (1944)

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More quotes by Denis William Brogan

American social fences have to be continually repaired; in England they are like wild hedges; they grow if left alone.

After the Civil War any well-established village in New England or the northern Middle West could afford a town drunkard, a town atheist, and a few Democrats.

The American Character (1944)

For Americans, war is almost all of the time a nuisance, and military skill a luxury like Mah-Jongg. But when the issue is brought home to them, war becomes as important, for the necessary period, as business or sport. And it is hard to decide which is likely to be the more ominous for the Axis—an American decision that this war is sport, or that it is business.

The American Character (1944)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Denis William Brogan (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.