India - the Mother

April 9, 1951

(Mother was asked, "Why is modern art so ugly?")

I think the main reason is that people have become more and more lazy and do not want to work. They want to produce before having worked, they want to know before having studied, and they want to make a name for themselves before having done anything worthwhile.

Those horrors [of the War] seem to have divided people : a minority was ready and has risen very high, while the majority, which was not ready, has sunk very low. Those are at present wallowing in the mud, which is why for the moment we can’t get out of it. If this goes on, we will move towards a new war, and then it will really be the end of this civilization—I am not saying the end of the world, because nothing can be the end of the world, but the end of this civilization, which means we will have to build another … For men are very intelligent creatures and have found a way to destroy everything, and they will use it, because what’s the use of spending billions to perfect some bombs if you are not to use them? What’s the use of discovering that you can destroy a city in a few minutes, if not to destroy it! One wants to see the fruit of one’s effort. If there is a war, that is what will happen.

Questions and Answers (1950 - 1951): 9 April 1951