the hysteria about ‘German’ thought, ‘German’ feeling, ‘German’ constancy, ‘German’ manhood, ‘being German!’ – all of that had long been abhorrent and repugnant to me. It was no sacrifice to forgo it. However, that did not prevent me from being a fairly good German, and I was conscious of it often enough, if only for the shame I felt at the excesses of German nationalism. Like most members of any nation I felt proud of the better points that one sees here and there in German history and the German character; offended by the insults in word or deed sometimes aimed at Germany by the nationalists
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