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Talking so quietly; when they hear the cars
And the knock at the door, and they look at each other quickly
And the woman goes to the door with a stiff face,
Smoothing her dress.
"We are all good citizens here. We believe in the Perfect State."

— Stephen Vincent Benét Litany for Dictatorships (1935)

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More quotes by Stephen Vincent Benét

Something begins.
Something is full of change and sparkling stars.
Something is loosed that changes all the world.

A Child is Born (1942)

Rise up! The loves we had were not enough.
Something is loosed to change the shaken world,
And with it we must change!

A Child is Born (1942)

We are the earth his word must sow like wheat
And, if it finds no earth, it cannot grow.

A Child is Born (1942)

The north and the west and the south are good hunting ground, but it is forbidden to go east.

By the Waters of Babylon (1937)

The time is — time. The place is anywhere.
The voices speak to you across the air
To say that once again a child is born.
A child is born.

A Child is Born (1942)

All Stephen Vincent Benét quotes →

Attribution

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