The twentieth century is more splendid than the
nineteenth century, certainly it is much more splendid.
The twentieth century has much less reasonableness
in its existence than the nineteenth century
but reasonableness does not make for splendor. The
seventeenth century had less reason in its existence
than the sixteenth century and in consequence
it has more splendor. So the twentieth century is that, it
is a time when everything cracks, where everything is
destroyed, everything isolates itself, it is a more splendid
thing than a period where everything follows
itself. So then the twentieth century is a splendid
period, not a reasonable one in the scientific sense,
but splendid. The phenomena of nature are
more splendid than the daily events of nature, certainly,
so then the twentieth century is splendid.

GERTRUDE STEIN

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