27 ‘Capital punishment is the only way to deter criminals’

The most senseless piece of criminal legislation in most countries has been the suspension of capital punishment. The violent criminal has become a kind of hero-figure in our time. He is glorified on the screen; he is pursued by the press and paid vast sums of money for his ‘memoirs’. The hardened criminal is cuddled and cosseted by the sociologists on the one hand and adored as a hero by the masses on the other.

Capital punishment used to be a major deterrent. It made the violent robber think twice before pulling the trigger. It gave the cold-blooded poisoner something to ponder about while he was shaking up or serving his arsenic cocktail. Above all, it protected young children, from brutal sex-maniacs. It is horrifying to think that the criminal can literally get away with murder.

28 ‘The space race is the world’s biggest money waster’

The space race is not simply the objective search for knowledge it is often made out to be. It is just an extension of the race for power on earth. Only the wealthiest nations can compete and they do so in the name of pure scientific research. But in reality, all they are interested in is power and prestige. The space race is just another aspect of the age-old argument that ‘might is right’.

Poverty, hunger, disease and war are man’s greatest enemies and the world would be an infinitely better place if the powerful nations devoted half as much money and effort to these problems as they do to the space race.

29 ‘Violence can do nothing to diminish race prejudice’

In some countries where racial prejudice is acute, violence has so come to be taken for granted as a means of solving differences, that it is not even questioned. Important people on both sides, who would in other respects appear to be reasonable men, get up and calmly argue in favour of violence - as if it were a legitimate solution, like any other.

We may wear collars and ties instead of war-paint, but our instincts remain basically unchanged. The whole of the recorded history of the human race, that tedious documentation of violence has taught us absolutely nothing. We have still not learnt that violence never solves a problem but makes it more acute.

30 ‘The most important of all human qualities is a sense of humour’

In a divided world, laughter is a unifying force. Human beings oppose each other on a great many issues. Nations may disagree about systems of government and human relations may be plagued by ideological factions and political camps, but we all share the ability to laugh. And laughter, in turn, depends on that most complex and subtle of all human qualities: a sense of humour.

The sense of humour must be singled out as man’s most important quality because it is associated with laughter. And laughter, in turn, is associated with happiness. Courage, determination, initiative - these are qualities we share with other forms of life. But the sense of humour is uniquely human. If happiness is one of the great goals of life, then it is the sense of humour that provides the key.