WIST Quotations

Carlyle, Thomas -- Sartor Resartus, Book 2, ch. 8 (1834)

Dave — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 18:05:23 +0000

At length, after infinite effort, the two parties come into actual juxtaposition; and Thirty stands fronting Thirty, each with a gun in his hand. Straightway the word “Fire!” is given: and they blow the souls out of one another; and in place of sixty brisk useful craftsmen, the world has sixty dead carcasses, which it must bury, and anew shed tears for. Had these men any quarrel? Busy as the Devil is, not the smallest! They lived far enough apart; were the entirest strangers; nay, in so wide a Universe, there was even, unconsciously, by Commerce, some mutual helpfulness between them. How then? Simpleton! their Governors had fallen-out; and, instead of shooting one another, had the cunning to make these poor blockheads shoot.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Sartor Resartus, Book 2, ch. 8 (1834)
(Source)

Quoting Herr Teufelsdröckh, describing thirty English village boys from Dumdrudge being sent to war and encountering thirty boys from a similar French village.

This passage first appeared in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol. 9, No. 52 (1834-04).

Emma Goldman in her lecture (1908-04-26), "Patriotism: A Menace to Liberty," given at Walton's Pavilion, San Francisco, appears to paraphrase this, while attributing it as an (unsourced) quote from Carlyle:

War is a quarrel between two thieves too cowardly to fight their own battle; therefore they take boys from one village and another village, stick them into uniforms, equip them with guns, and let them loose like wild beasts against each other.

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1942-08), “If You Ask Me,” Ladies’ Home Journal, Vol. 59

Dave — Tue, 26 May 2026 16:14:43 +0000

How do you think our boys who have gone to war and risked their lives should treat conscientious objectors after the war?

I should think that the boys who go through the war, and who believe in what they are doing, would have a respect for a conscientious objector who had an equally strong belief that he should not kill other people.
We have put these conscientious objectors to work in this war. They are clamoring for more dangerous work. Some of them are already doing work which requires great courage, but not the taking of another man’s life. It would certainly seem a curious thing to me if a boy were not able to understand, having had deep convictions himself, that other people have a right to equally deep convictions and that they should be respected.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1942-08), “If You Ask Me,” Ladies’ Home Journal, Vol. 59
(Source)

(Source (Alternate))

Carlyle, Thomas -- Lecture (1840-05-08), “The Hero as Prophet,” Home House, Portman Square, London

Dave — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 19:44:21 +0000

In the meanest mortal there lies something nobler. The poor swearing soldier, hired to be shot, has his “honor of a soldier,” different from drill-regulations and the shilling a day. It is not to taste sweet things, but to do noble and true things, and vindicate himself under God’s Heaven as a god-made Man, that the poorest son of Adam dimly longs. Show him the way of doing that, the dullest day-drudge kindles into a hero. They wrong man greatly who say he is to be seduced by ease.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-08), “The Hero as Prophet,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)

The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 2 (1841).

Orwell, George -- Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 1, New Road (1943-06)

Dave — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 15:33:08 +0000

People forget that a soldier anywhere near the front line is usually too hungry, or frightened, or cold, or, above all, too tired to bother about the political origins of the war.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 1, New Road (1943-06)
(Source)

Bolt, Robert -- Doctor Zhivago, Part 1, film (1965)

Dave — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 20:19:50 +0000

YEVGRAF: Happy men don’t volunteer. They wait their turn, and thank God if their age or work delays it.

Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
Doctor Zhivago, Part 1, film (1965)
(Source)

On army recruitment. This line is not in the 1957 Boris Pasternak novel.

Swift, Jonathan -- Gulliver’s Travels, Part 4 “Voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms,” ch. 5 (1726)

Dave — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 21:26:33 +0000

A soldier is a yahoo hired to kill in cold blood as many of his own species, who have never offended him, as possibly he can.

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) English writer and churchman
Gulliver’s Travels, Part 4 “Voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms,” ch. 5 (1726)
(Source)

Following a long litany of the causes of wars in Europe, the number of such causes leading to the "trade of a soldier" being held "the most honourable of all others," for the above reason.

Taleb, Nassim Nicholas -- The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms, “Ethics” (2010)

Dave — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 22:03:04 +0000

For soldiers, we use the term “mercenary,” but we absolve employees of responsibility with “everybody needs to make a living.”

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms, “Ethics” (2010)
(Source)

Mauldin, Bill -- Up Front (1945)

Dave — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 15:28:21 +0000

I don’t make the infantryman look noble, because he couldn’t look noble even if he tried. Still there is a certain nobility and dignity in combat soldiers and medical aid men with dirt in their ears. They are rough and their language gets coarse because they live a life stripped of convention and niceties. Their nobility and dignity come from the way they live unselfishly and risk their lives to help each other.

Bill Mauldin (1921-2003) American editorial cartoonist, writer
Up Front (1945)
(Source)

Von Clausewitz, Karl -- On War [Vom Kriege], Book 2, ch. 2 “On the Theory of War [Über die Theorie des Krieges],” § 17 (2.2.17) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]

Dave — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 15:10:26 +0000

Modern wars are seldom fought without hatred between nations; this serves as a more or less substitute for the hatred between individuals. Even when there is no natural hatred and no animosity to start with, the fighting itself will stir up hostile feelings: violence committed on superior orders will stir up the desire for revenge and retaliation against the perpetrator rather than against the powers that ordered the action. It is only human (or animal, if you like), but it is a fact.

[Der Nationalhaß, an dem es auch bei unseren Kriegen selten fehlt, vertritt bei dem einzelnen gegen den einzelnen mehr oder weniger stark die individuelle Feindschaft. Wo aber auch dieser fehlt und anfangs keine Erbitterung war, entzündet sich das feindselige Gefühl an dem Kampfe selbst, denn eine Gewaltsamkeit, die jemand auf höhere Weisung an uns verübt, wird uns zur Vergeltung und Rache gegen ihn entflammen, früher noch, ehe wir es gegen die höhere Gewalt sein werden, die ihm gebietet, so zu handeln. Dies ist menschlich oder auch tierisch, wenn man will, aber es ist so.]

Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) Prussian soldier, historian, military theorist
On War [Vom Kriege], Book 2, ch. 2 “On the Theory of War [Über die Theorie des Krieges],” § 17 (2.2.17) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translations:

National hatred, which is seldom wanting in our wars, is a substitute for personal hostility in the breast of individual opposed to individual. But where this also is wanting, and at first no animosity of feeling subsisted, a hostile feeling is kindled by the combat itself; for an act of violence which any one commits upon us by order of his superior, will excite in us a desire to retaliate and be revenged on him, sooner than on the superior power at whose command the act was done. This is human, or animal if we will; still it is so.
[tr. Graham (1873)]

National hatred, which is seldom lacking in our wars, becomes a more or less powerful substitute for personal hostility of individual against individual. But where this also is wanting, and, at first, no animosity existed, a hostile feeling is kindled by the combat itself. An act of violence which anyone commits upon us by order of his superior will excite in us the desire to retaliate and be revenged on him sooner than on the superior power at whose command the act was done. This is human -- animal, if you will -- but it is a fact.
[tr. Jolles (1943)]

Porter, Katherine Anne -- Ship of Fools, Part 2 [Hansen] (1962)

Dave — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 19:11:11 +0000

Civilization, let me tell you what it is. First the soldier, then the merchant, then the priest, then the lawyer. The merchant hires the soldier and priest to conquer the country for him. First the soldier, he is a murderer; then the priest, he is a liar; then the merchant, he is a thief; and they all bring in the lawyer to make their laws and defend their deeds, and there you have your civilization!

Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980) American journalist, essayist, author, political activist [b. Callie Russell Porter]
Ship of Fools, Part 2 [Hansen] (1962)
(Source)

Serling, Rod -- “First Squad, First Platoon,” Dedication (c. 1947)

Dave — Mon, 27 Dec 2021 20:17:59 +0000

It seems war stories aren’t very well received at this point. I’m told they’re outdated, untimely and as might be expected — make some unpleasant reading. And, as you have no doubt already perceived, human beings don’t like to remember unpleasant things. They gird themselves with the armor of wishful thinking, protect themselves with a shield of impenetrable optimism, and, with a few exceptions, seem to accomplish their “forgetting” quite admirably. But you, my children, I don’t want you to be among those who choose to forget. I want you to read my stories and a lot of others like them. I want you to fill your heads with Remarque and Tolstoy and Ernie Pyle. I want you to know what shrapnel, and “88’s” and mortar shells and mustard gas mean. I want you to feel, no matter how vicariously, a semblance of the feeling of a torn limb, a burnt patch of flesh, the crippling, numbing sensation of fear, the hopeless emptiness of fatigue. All these things are complementary to the province of War and they should be taught and demonstrated in classrooms along with the more heroic aspects of uniforms, and flags, and honor and patriotism.

Rod Serling (1924-1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
“First Squad, First Platoon,” Dedication (c. 1947)
(Source)

Dedication to his unborn children, in one of his first (unpublished) works of fiction, while at Antioch College under the GI Bill. In Anne Serling, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling (2013)

Fussell, Paul -- Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War, ch. 11 (1989)

Dave — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 14:19:41 +0000

To get home you had to end the war. To end the war was the reason you fought it. The only reason.

Paul Fussell (1924-2012) American cultural and literary historian, author, academic
Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War, ch. 11 (1989)
(Source)

Orwell, George -- Homage to Catalonia, Appendix 1 (1938)

Dave — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 20:42:44 +0000

One of the most horrible features of war is that all the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Homage to Catalonia, Appendix 1 (1938)
(Source)

Fussell, Paul -- Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War, ch. 18 (1989)

Dave — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 14:51:58 +0000

In war, it is not just the weak soldiers, or the sensitive ones, or the highly imaginative or cowardly ones, who will break down. Inevitably, all will break down if in combat long enough.

Paul Fussell (1924-2012) American cultural and literary historian, author, academic
Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War, ch. 18 (1989)
(Source)

Fussell, Paul -- Times of London (28 Nov 1991)

Dave — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 15:43:06 +0000

The worst thing about war was the sitting around and wondering what you were doing morally.

Paul Fussell (1924-2012) American cultural and literary historian, author, academic
Times of London (28 Nov 1991)

Thoreau, Henry David -- Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10

Dave — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 23:52:21 +0000

The mass of men serve the State thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, gaolers, constables, posse comitatus, etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10
(Source)

Based on an 1848 lecture at the Concord Lyceum.

Fussell, Paul -- “The Initial Shock,” Interview by Sheldon Hackney, Humanities (Nov/Dec 1996)

Dave — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 15:05:28 +0000

“Those who fought know a secret about themselves, and it is not very nice.” They have experienced secretly and privately their natural human impulse toward sadism and brutality. […] Not merely did I learn to kill with a noose of piano wire put around somebody’s neck from behind, but I learned to enjoy the prospect of killing that way. It’s those things that you learn about yourself that you never forget. You learn that you have much wider dimensions than you had imagined before you had to fight a war. That’s salutary. It’s well to know exactly who you are so you can conduct the rest of your life properly.

Paul Fussell (1924-2012) American cultural and literary historian, author, academic
“The Initial Shock,” Interview by Sheldon Hackney, Humanities (Nov/Dec 1996)
(Source)

Garfield, James A. -- Speech to the “Boys in Blue,” Madison Square Park, New York City (6 Aug 1880)

Dave — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 16:53:32 +0000

Gentlemen, ideas outlive men; ideas outlive all earthly things. You who fought in the war for the Union fought for immortal ideas, and by their might you crowned the war with victory. But victory was worth nothing except for the truths that were under it, in it, and above it.

James A. Garfield (1831-1881) US President (1881), lawyer, lay preacher, educator
Speech to the “Boys in Blue,” Madison Square Park, New York City (6 Aug 1880)
(Source)

Kipling, Rudyard -- “Gentlemen-Rankers,” (1892)

Dave — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 17:15:40 +0000

We’re poor little lambs who’ve lost our way,
Baa! Baa! Baa!
We’re little black sheep who’ve gone astray,
Baa-aa-aa!
Gentlemen rankers out on a spree,
Damned from here to Eternity.
God ha’ mercy on such as we,
Baa! Yah! Bah!

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) English writer
“Gentlemen-Rankers,” (1892)
(Source)

~Other -- Anonymous Soldier, Battle of Blenheim (31 Aug 1704)

Dave — Mon, 29 May 2017 18:52:10 +0000

O God, if there be a God, save my soul, if I have a soul!

(Other Authors and Sources)
Anonymous Soldier, Battle of Blenheim (31 Aug 1704)

Also given as "Oh, God, if there is one, save my soul, if I have one."

The original printed source for this quote appears to be in William King (1685-1763), Political and Literary Anecdotes of His Own Times (1761), who quotes William Wyndham (1688-1740) claiming it "the shortest prayer he had ever heard," given by a common soldier prior to the Battle of Blenheim.

Also attributed to:

Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899), without citation, supposedly on his deathbed, sometimes with the final phrase "... from hell, if there be a hell!"
Ernest Renan (1823-1892) as "The Agnostic's Prayer" or "Prayer of a Skeptic [Prière d'un sceptique]" ("Ô Seigneur, s'il y a un Seigneur; sauvez mon âme, si j'ai une âme.")
Frederick the Great (1712-1786), in M. Goldsmith, Frederick the Great (1929), without citation.
Voltaire (1694-1778), without citation.

Santayana, George -- Persons and Places, entry, c. 1880 (1944)

Dave — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:58:26 +0000

It would repel me less to be a hangman than a soldier, because the one is obliged to put to death only criminals sentenced by the law, but the other kills honest men who like himself bathe in innocent blood at the bidding of some superior.

George Santayana (1863-1952) Spanish-American poet and philosopher [Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruíz de Santayana y Borrás]
Persons and Places, entry, c. 1880 (1944)

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- Speech, Guildhall, London (12 Jun 1945)

Dave — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 16:15:13 +0000

Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in blood of his followers and sacrifices of his friends.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Speech, Guildhall, London (12 Jun 1945)

Chesterfield (Lord) -- Letter to his son, #128 (9 Oct 1747)

Dave — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 16:35:18 +0000

As I have often told you, politeness and good beeding are absolutely necessary to adorn any, or all other good qualities or talents. Without them, no knowledge, no perfection whatever, is seen in its best light. The scholar, without good breeding, is a pedant; the philosopher, a cynic; the soldier, a brute; and every man disagreeable.

Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #128 (9 Oct 1747)
(Source)

Bradley, Omar -- Interview with Edgar Puryear (1963-02-15)

Dave — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 16:56:19 +0000

Dependability, integrity, the characteristic of never knowingly doing anything wrong, that you would never cheat anyone, that you would give everybody a fair deal. Character is a sort of an all-inclusive thing. If a man has character, everyone has confidence in him. Soldiers must have confidence in their leader.

Omar Bradley (1893-1981) American general
Interview with Edgar Puryear (1963-02-15)
(Source)

Quoted in Edgar Puryear, Nineteen Stars: A Study in Military Character and Leadership, ch. 6 (1971).

Carnegie, Andrew -- “A Plea for Peace,” New York Times (7 Apr 1907)

Dave — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 17:30:28 +0000

Are there no ideals more stirring than those of martial glory? Is this generation conscious of calls to the service of native land in ways no more worthy than the way of taking a musket and killing somebody? You ask, in the language of Prof. James, for a moral equivalent for war. A patriot needs only look about to find numberless causes that ought to warm the blood and stir the imagination. The dispelling of ignorance and the fostering of education, the investigation of disease and the searching out of remedies that will vanquish the giant ills that decimate the race, the inculcation of good feeling in the industrial world, the cause of the aged, the cause of the men and women who had so little chance — tell me, has war anything that beckons as these things beckon with alluring and compelling power? Whoso wants to share the heroism of battle let him join the fight against ignorance and disease — and the mad idea that war is necessary.

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) American industrialist and philanthropist
“A Plea for Peace,” New York Times (7 Apr 1907)
(Source)

Brecht, Bertholt -- “General, Your Tank Is a Powerful Vehicle,” in “From a German War Primer,” The Svendborg Poems (1939) [tr. Baxandall]

Dave — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 15:55:51 +0000

General, man is very useful.
He can fly and he can kill.
But he has one defect:
He can think.

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) German poet, playwright, director, dramaturgist
“General, Your Tank Is a Powerful Vehicle,” in “From a German War Primer,” The Svendborg Poems (1939) [tr. Baxandall]

Brecht, Bertholt -- “General, Your Tank Is a Powerful Vehicle,” in “From a German War Primer,” The Svendborg Poems (1939) [tr. Baxandall]

Dave — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 15:44:28 +0000

General, your tank
is a powerful vehicle
it smashes down forests
and crushes a hundred men.
but it has one defect:
it needs a driver.

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- Speech, Canadian Club, Ottawa (10 Jan 1946)

Dave — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 12:27:09 +0000

I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Speech, Canadian Club, Ottawa (10 Jan 1946)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- (Attributed, 1945)

Dave — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 13:08:24 +0000

The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
(Attributed, 1945)

Chateaubriand, Francois-Rene -- Memoirs from Beyond the Grave [Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe], Book 8, ch. 4 (1848-1850) [tr. Kline]

Dave — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:35:13 +0000

One does not learn how to die by killing others.

François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848) French writer, politican, diplomat
Memoirs from Beyond the Grave [Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe], Book 8, ch. 4 (1848-1850) [tr. Kline]

Baldwin, Stanley -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 26 May 2014 17:25:12 +0000

War would end if the dead could return.

Stanley Baldwin (1867-1947) British Conservative politician, Prime Minister
(Attributed)

Taylor, Tell -- “You’re in the Army Now” (1917) [with Ole Olsen]

Dave — Wed, 21 May 2014 12:01:02 +0000

You’re in the Army now,
You’re not behind a plow;
You’ll never get rich
A-diggin’ a ditch,
You’re in the Army now.

William "Tell" Taylor (1876-1937) American vaudevillian, singer, playwright, composer, lyricist
“You’re in the Army Now” (1917) [with Ole Olsen]

Schwarzkopf, Norman -- In New York Times (28 Jan 1991)

Dave — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 12:37:27 +0000

I don’t consider myself dovish and I certainly don’t consider myself hawkish. Maybe I would describe myself as owlish — that is, wise enough to understand that you want to do everything possible to avoid war.

Norman Schwarzkopf (1934-2012) American military leader
In New York Times (28 Jan 1991)

Ciardi, John -- “New Year’s Eve,” This Strangest Everything (1966)

Dave — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 12:03:53 +0000

Boys are the cash of war. Whoever said
We’re not free-spenders doesn’t know our likes.

John Ciardi (1916-1986) American poet, writer, critic
“New Year’s Eve,” This Strangest Everything (1966)

Kipling, Rudyard -- “Common Form,” The Years Between (1919)

Dave — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 12:31:05 +0000

If any question why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied.

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) English writer
“Common Form,” The Years Between (1919)

Housman, A. E. -- More Poems, #36 (1936)

Dave — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 13:00:04 +0000

Here dead lie we because we did not choose
To live and shame the land from which we sprung.
Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose;
But young men think it is, and we were young.

A. E. Housman (1859-1936) English scholar and poet [Alfred Edward Housman]
More Poems, #36 (1936)
(Source)

Hemingway, Ernest -- “Notes on the Next War,” Esquire (Sep 1935)

Dave — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 13:54:46 +0000

They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. But in modern war there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason.

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) American writer
“Notes on the Next War,” Esquire (Sep 1935)

Joubert, Joseph -- Pensées [Thoughts], 1814 entry [tr. Auster (1983)]

Dave — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 20:29:24 +0000

Courage (in a soldier) is maintained by a certain anger; anger is a little blind and likes to strike out. And from this follows a thousand abuses, a thousand evils and misfortunes that are impossible to predict in an army during war.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1814 entry [tr. Auster (1983)]
(Source)

I could not find an analog in other translations of the Pensées.

Rogers, Will -- Column (1925-02-15), “Weekly Article: Monuments Are All Right But Even Heroes Must Eat” [No. 114]

Dave — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:45:02 +0000

You know that’s the tough part about a hero. He has to eat. We take care of them with too much newspaper space and not enough permanent endowment. We have great fellows back from the War that can show you two medals for every sack of flour they have in the house. They’ve got a foreign decoration for every American dollar they have. Heroing is one of the shortest-lifed professions there is.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1925-02-15), “Weekly Article: Monuments Are All Right But Even Heroes Must Eat” [No. 114]
(Source)

Collected in a shorter version in The Autobiography of Will Rogers, ch. 10 (1926) [ed. Donald Day].

Kipling, Rudyard -- “Tommy,” Barrack-Room Ballads (1893)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

For it’s Tommy this, and Tommy that, an’ ‘Chuck him out, the brute!’
But it’s ‘Saviour of ‘is country’ when the guns begin to shoot.

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) English writer
“Tommy,” Barrack-Room Ballads (1893)

Hemingway, Ernest -- Men at War, Introduction (1942)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Cowardice, as distinguished from panic, is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend the functioning of the imagination. Learning to suspend your imagination and live completely in the very second of the present minute with no before and no after is the greatest gift a soldier can acquire.

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) American writer
Men at War, Introduction (1942)
(Source)

Santayana, George -- The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress, vol. 2 “Reason in Society,” ch. 3 “Industry, Government, and War” (1905-06)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

To delight in war is a merit in the soldier, a dangerous quality in the captain, and a positive crime in the statesman.

George Santayana (1863-1952) Spanish-American poet and philosopher [Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruíz de Santayana y Borrás]
The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress, vol. 2 “Reason in Society,” ch. 3 “Industry, Government, and War” (1905-06)