It is strange to realise how large a part the
puny triumph plays in Nazi, and indeed in Fascist, mentality. How indicative of the uncertain and therefore ungenerous mind is this delight in small humiliations, in the tweak of little pinches, in the stab of tiny pins. The B.B.C. hitherto have shown small relish in unimportant conquests, realising that this relish marks the point where generous anger fades down to mean vindictiveness. There are moments when I ques- tion whether the publicity officers of the Air Ministry (so different from those of the Admiralty) wholly understand the importance of maintaining a due sense of proportion. Yet when I listen to the flat and querulous voice which comes to us from Hamburg I realise that those cheap sneers spring from no depth of righteous indignation, but only from a strident desire to degrade.
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