I Am Become Death

We knew the world would not be the same
Few people laughed, few people cried
Most people were silent
I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita

Vishnu is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty
And to impress him, he takes on his multi-armed form and says: Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds
I suppose we all thought that, one way or another

-- Robert Oppenheimer, 1965