The decisions seemed charged with consequences to the future of human society; yet the air whispered that the word was not flesh, that it was futile, insignificant, of no effect, dissociated from events; and one felt most strongly the impression, described by Tolstoy in War and Peace or by Hardy in The Dynasts, of events marching on to their fated conclusion uninfluenced and unaffected by the cerebrations of Statesmen in Council: Spirit of the Years Observe that all wide sight and self-command Deserts these throngs now driven to Demonry By the Immanent Unrecking.
"The Economic Consequences of the Peace"
John Maynard Keynes