Rebecca Harding Davis Quotes
I have never seen an adequate description anywhere of the amazement, the uncomprehending horror of the bulk of the American people which preceded the firing of that gun at Sumter. Politicians or far-sighted leaders on both sides knew what was coming. And it is they who have written histories of the war. But to the easy-going millions, busied with their farms or shops, the onrushing disaster was as inexplicable as an earthquake. Their protest arose from sea to sea like the clamor of a gigantic hive of frightened bees.
Davis, Rebecca Harding. Bits of Gossip. Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1904, p. 109.
It is easy for those in London to wish for missiles and other weapons to be launched at others. If an Iranian missile were to hit Israel, he would celebrate. Then when the Israeli retaliation strike hits Iran, he will be among the first to call for a cease fire and plead for intervention lest there be bloodshed in Iran. Somehow the Middle East has a disproportionate number of people who are terribly enthused about attacking others without considering the consequence of the retaliation and counter attack.
Rebecca Blaine Harding Davis was an American author and journalist. She was a pioneer of literary realism in American literature. She graduated valedictorian from Washington Female Seminary in Pennsylvania. Her most important literary work is the short story "Life in the Iron-Mills," published in the April 1861 edition of The Atlantic Monthly which quickly made her an established female writer. Throughout her lifetime, Davis sought to effect social change for African Americans, women, Native Americans, immigrants, and the working class, by intentionally writing about the plight of these marginalized groups in the 19th century.
