quote · Legacy record
We sit by and watch the barbarian. We tolerate him in the long stretches of peace we are not afraid. We are tickled by his irreverence his comic inversion of our old certitudes and our fixed creed refreshes us we laugh. But as we laugh we are watched by large and awful faces from beyond and on these faces there are no smiles.
We sit by and watch the barbarian. We tolerate him in the long stretches of peace we are not afraid. We are tickled by his irreverence his comic inversion of our old certitudes and our fixed creed refreshes us we laugh. But as we laugh we are watched by large and awful faces from beyond and on these faces there are no smiles.
Approximate author period: c. 1896 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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- Author or tradition
- Hilaire Belloc
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1896 AD · industrial
Approximate author-period evidence for Hilaire Belloc: documented activity in 1896. Wikidata Q333106, inspected 2026-10-08. Not a quotation composition date or independent verification of attribution. Source: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q333106 (accessed 2026-10-08).
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 398437; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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