"

Horkheimer:     But I can. Because mankind is destroying itself. The world is mad and will remain so. When it comes down to it, I find it easy to believe that the whole of world history is just a fly caught in the flames.

Adorno:    The world is not just mad. It is mad and rational as well.

Horkheimer:   The only  thing  that  goes against my pessimism is the fact that we still carry  on  thinking  today.  All  hope  lies  in thought. But it is easy to believe that it could all come to an end.

Adorno:    And  that  no  one  will  carry  on thinking. But even Mr Eisenhower will be unable to choose Nixon as his running mate for fear of a preventive war.

Horkheimer:  Perhaps. But what is that compared to the murder of twenty million Chinese?

Adorno:    The fact is that there is an authority that has the potential to prevent total catastrophe. This authority must be appealed to. It is the instinct in American voters that would refuse to tolerate Richard Nixon as Vice President.

"