While in Korea, Linebarger masterminded the surrender of thousands of Chinese troops who considered it shameful to give up their arms. He drafted leaflets explaining how the soldiers could come forward waving their guns and shouting Chinese words like “love,” “virtue” and “humanity” — words that just happened, when pronounced in the right order, to sound like “I surrender” in English. He considered this seemingly cynical act to be the single most worthwhile thing he had done in his life.
—“From the introduction to The Best of Cordwainer Smith, the author of “Scanners Live in Vain” and, in non-pseudonymous life, an East Asia scholar from Milwaukee named Paul Linebarger (1913-1966)” via Helen at The Cigarette Smoking Blog
