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PAGAN_DREAMING

                                             July 17, 2007


   "The Night Life of the Gods" (1935)
    Thorne Smith


    A document of the grand war
    between the blue noses and        Reminiscent of the
    the red noses.                    war between hippies
                                      and straights three
                                      decades later.

                                          Are we overdue
                                          for another?


        "Go ahead and invent a new economic system," said
        Mr. Hawk, "and you can have your wish.  How can a
        man be happily irresponsible or develop the really
        charming possibilities of his character when the
        fear of losing his job through no fault of his own
        is constantly in the back of his mind? A man who
        gets up in the morning, washes his face, kisses his
        wife, and catches his train is not nearly so
        interesting as the man who gets up around noontime,
        mixes himself a cocktail, kisses someone else's
        wife, and misses his train.  Yet under our present
        economic system the train misser loses out unless
        he is privately endowed or subsidized."

                     Chapter XIX "The Gods Leave Town", p. 224

       
        "It has already begun to do so," said the Reverend        
        Archer.  "I see many things differently now.  In          
        many instances I have completely reversed by              
        attitude.  Previously I believed that the majority        
        of the members of my congregation, which is, as           
        you know, a fashionable one, did not need saving.         
        Now I feel that they are not worth saving."               
                                                                  
                        Chapter  XIX "The Gods Leave Town", p. 229
                                                                  
                                                                  
                                                                  
                                                                  
        It is always more pleasing to                             
        see a good man going wrong the                            
        right way than a bad man going                            
        right the wrong way.                                      
                                                                  
             Chapter XIX "The Gods Leave Town" p. 230             
                                                                  
                                                                  
                                                                  
        "One thing I know," observed the scientist,               
        watching the following eyes in his mirror.                
        "There's little room in this world for me,                
        and damned if I blame the world."                         
                                                                  
            Chapter XX "Battle and Flight"  p. 240                



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