“Oh, quite,” said Naphta, and flung a glance at Settembrini, who was twirling his cane and looking up at the sky.

“And that,” went on Hans Castorp, “is why I thought you must have great sympathy with the feelings of my cousin Ziemssen. I am not thinking of ‘Church and King’ and suchlike associations of ideas, that a lot of perfectly well-meaning and conventional people stand for. What I mean is that service in the army⁠—‘service’ is the right word⁠—isn’t performed for commercial advantage, nor for the sake of the economic doctrine of society, as you call it⁠—and that must be the reason why the English have such a small army, a few for India, and a few at home for reviews⁠—”