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INTRODUCTION 9

LIFE AND MATTER AT WAR 15

THE FORCE WHICH WASTES AND THAT WHICH DOES NOT WASTE 41




INTRODUCTION




INTRODUCTION


This little volume contains the discourse delivered by M. Bergson as
President of the _Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques_ at its
annual public meeting on December 12, 1914. It is the address which
preceded the announcement of the prizes and awards bestowed by the
Academy. It is now issued in book form with the consent of the author,
and his full appreciation of the object, to give it the widest
circulation. Although it is brief, it is a message addressed directly
to the heart of our people in the crisis of war. To it is added a
short article on the same theme, contributed to the _Bulletin des
Armées de la République_, November 4, 1914.