День триффидов
Conference
"FromAugust6,1945,themarginofsurvivalhasnarrowedappallingly.Indeed,twodaysagoitwasnarrowerthanitisatthismoment.Ifyouneedtodramatize,youcouldwelltakeforyourmaterialtheyearssucceeding1945,whenthepathofsafetystaffedtoshrinktoatightropealongwhichwehadtowalkwithoureyesdeliberatelyclosedtothedepthsbeneathus.
"Inanysinglemomentoftheyearssincethenthefatalslipmighthavebeenmade.Itisamiraclethatitwasnot.Itisadoublemiraclethatcangoonhappeningforyears.
"Butsoonerorlaterthatslipmusthaveoccurred.Itwouldnothavematteredwhetheritcamethroughmalice,carelessness,orsheeraccident:thebalancewouldhavebeenlostandthedestructionletloose.
"Howbaditwouldhavebeen,wecannotsay.Howbaditcouldhavebeen—well,theremighthavebeennosurvivors;theremightpossiblyhavebeennoplanet..
"Andnowcontrastoursituation.TheEarthisintact,Un-scarred,stillfruitful.Itcanprovideuswithfoodandrawmaterials.Wehaverepositoriesofknowledgethatcanteachustodoanythingthathasbeendonebefore—thoughtherearesomethingsthatmaybebetterunremembered.Andwehavethemeans,thehealth,andthestrengthtobegintobuildagain."
Hedidnotmakealongspeech,butitbadeffect.Itmusthavemadequiteanumberofthemembersofhisaudiencebegintofeelthatperhapstheywereatthebeginningofsomething,afterall,ratherthanattheendofeverything.
