"At this range, they could not even shoot an eleph..." (last words of General Sedgwick, battle of Spotsylvania in 1864)
The quote from Clémenceau about Faure dying in the bed of his mistress has to be in french, typically the sentence that can't be translated :
"Il voulait être César, il ne fut que Pompée"
Forezjohn wrote:The quote from Clémenceau about Faure dying in the bed of his mistress has to be in french, typically the sentence that can't be translated :
"Il voulait être César, il ne fut que Pompée"
I like also very much the surname given to Felix Faure's mistress : "La pompe funèbre" as she indirectly killed him when she was doing to him some....hhmm, well, correct language prevents me to end my sentence...
La mort est un mur, mourir est une brèche.
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W.Barksdale
- AGEod Grognard
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The lady in question, Marguerite Steinheil.
A priest was sent for to attend to the President. When he arrived he asked if Faure still had consciousness? "No", replied the policeman, "she left by the back door". In French, 'connaissance' means both 'consciousness' and 'acquaintance'.
- Attachments
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[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
'Nous voilà, Lafayette'
Colonel C.E. Stanton, aide to A.E.F. commander John 'Black Jack' Pershing, upon the landing of the first US troops in France 1917
'Nous voilà, Lafayette'
Colonel C.E. Stanton, aide to A.E.F. commander John 'Black Jack' Pershing, upon the landing of the first US troops in France 1917
Forezjohn wrote:"At this range, they could not even shoot an eleph..." (last words of General Sedgwick, battle of Spotsylvania in 1864)
The quote from Clémenceau about Faure dying in the bed of his mistress has to be in french, typically the sentence that can't be translated :
"Il voulait être César, il ne fut que Pompée"
It is translated as: He wanted to be Ceasar, he was only Pompey.
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Carrington
- Captain
- Posts: 198
- Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:53 am
More Bismarck
"[If the British were to invade by sea, I would call out the Bremen police department and have them arrested.]"
"[The Balkans are not worth the bones of one Pomeranian Grenadier.]"
We must give these sheep-stealers plainly to understand that the European governments have no need to harness themselves to their lusts and rivalries.
One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.
A statesman ... must wait until he hears the steps of God sounding through events, then leap up and grasp the hem of His garment.
With such an incapable politician as Gladstone... it is impossible to pursue a policy in which England's position can be counted upon.
Not even the King has the right to subordinate the interests of the state to his personal sympathies or antipathies.
"[The Balkans are not worth the bones of one Pomeranian Grenadier.]"
We must give these sheep-stealers plainly to understand that the European governments have no need to harness themselves to their lusts and rivalries.
One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.
A statesman ... must wait until he hears the steps of God sounding through events, then leap up and grasp the hem of His garment.
With such an incapable politician as Gladstone... it is impossible to pursue a policy in which England's position can be counted upon.
Not even the King has the right to subordinate the interests of the state to his personal sympathies or antipathies.
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Carrington
- Captain
- Posts: 198
- Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:53 am
Goodness, no Bismarck?
"[If the British were to invade by sea, I would call out the Bremen police department and have them arrested.]"
"[The Balkans are not worth the bones of one Pomeranian Grenadier.]"
One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.
A statesman ... must wait until he hears the steps of God sounding through events, then leap up and grasp the hem of His garment.
"[The Balkans are not worth the bones of one Pomeranian Grenadier.]"
One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.
A statesman ... must wait until he hears the steps of God sounding through events, then leap up and grasp the hem of His garment.
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von Sachsen
- Captain
- Posts: 156
- Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 9:52 pm
The classic quote from Porfirio Diaz
And, of course, another classic but this time from Mexico:
"Poor Mexico....so far from God and so close to the United States"
Porfirio Diaz (1830-1915)
Although one could say that he was surrounded by far worse, and far closer, company in the Presidential Palace.
"Poor Mexico....so far from God and so close to the United States"
Porfirio Diaz (1830-1915)
Although one could say that he was surrounded by far worse, and far closer, company in the Presidential Palace.
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Belisarius7
- Conscript
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- Location: GA
"Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
- Theodore Roosevelt"
"Sir, if you ever presume again to speak disrespectfully of General Grant in my presence, either you or I will sever his connection with this university.
-Robert E. Lee
After one of the faculty at Washington College in Virginia (now Washington & Lee University) had spoken insultingly of Ulysses S. Grant, as quoted in Lee the American (1912) by Gamaliel Bradford, p. 226"
"It is probably well that we had the war when we did. We are better off now than we would have been without it, and have made more rapid progress than we otherwise should have made... But this war was a fearful lesson, and should teach us the necessity of avoiding wars in the future."
-Ulysses S. Grant in Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
[all quotes taken from wikiquotes]
- Theodore Roosevelt"
"Sir, if you ever presume again to speak disrespectfully of General Grant in my presence, either you or I will sever his connection with this university.
-Robert E. Lee
After one of the faculty at Washington College in Virginia (now Washington & Lee University) had spoken insultingly of Ulysses S. Grant, as quoted in Lee the American (1912) by Gamaliel Bradford, p. 226"
"It is probably well that we had the war when we did. We are better off now than we would have been without it, and have made more rapid progress than we otherwise should have made... But this war was a fearful lesson, and should teach us the necessity of avoiding wars in the future."
-Ulysses S. Grant in Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
[all quotes taken from wikiquotes]
"The noodles have had thier lucid interval."
Kaiser Wilhelm II upon hearing of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, 1903.
"[The General Staff] maintained three sets of casualty figures, one to fool the public, one to fool the Government and one to fool themselves."
David Lloyd George
"Oh what scoundrels we should be if we did for ourselves what we do for Italy."
Giuseppi Garibaldi
"If I lose one of the magnificent ships, the country will never forgive me".
Vice-Admiral David Beatty, RN at the Battle of Helgoland Bight, 1914.
"He lost three battles for me."
Admiral David Beatty, RN as First Sea Lord of his wartime Flag Commander, Ralph Seymour
"Now we shall see something interesting."
Captain Arthur Moore, RN (HMS Dreadnaught) shortly before HMS Camperdown rammed and sank HMS Victoria, 21 June 1893.
"... the only question is how to mollify them at the smallest cost to mankind."
Lord Balfour writing of the Italian Delegation at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919.
Kaiser Wilhelm II upon hearing of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, 1903.
"[The General Staff] maintained three sets of casualty figures, one to fool the public, one to fool the Government and one to fool themselves."
David Lloyd George
"Oh what scoundrels we should be if we did for ourselves what we do for Italy."
Giuseppi Garibaldi
"If I lose one of the magnificent ships, the country will never forgive me".
Vice-Admiral David Beatty, RN at the Battle of Helgoland Bight, 1914.
"He lost three battles for me."
Admiral David Beatty, RN as First Sea Lord of his wartime Flag Commander, Ralph Seymour
"Now we shall see something interesting."
Captain Arthur Moore, RN (HMS Dreadnaught) shortly before HMS Camperdown rammed and sank HMS Victoria, 21 June 1893.
"... the only question is how to mollify them at the smallest cost to mankind."
Lord Balfour writing of the Italian Delegation at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919.
Moscow, St Petersburg and Constantinople - these are the sacred capitals of the Russian Empire. But where are its limits? Where are its boundaries? From the Nile to the Neva, from the Elbe to China, from the Volga to the Euphrates, from the Ganges to the Danube, behold the Russian realm, and never will it end!
- Feodor Tyutchev, Russian Pan-Slavic writer, 1849
As the great champion of freedom and national independence, he conquers and annexes half the world, and calls it colonisation. He does everything on principle. He fights you on patriotic principles; he robs you on business principles; he enslaves you on imperial principles.
- George Bernard Shaw, 1895; line from the play 'The Man of Destiny'
We have conquered for ourselves a place in the sun. It will now be my task to see to it that this place in the sun remains our undisputed possession, for our future lies upon the water.
- Kaiser Wilhelm II, 1901
Your fathers worked hard, fought hard and died hard to make this Empire for you. Don't let them look down from Heaven and see you loafing about with hands in your pockets doing nothing to keep it up.
- Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, 1908
Just as the Huns under their king Attila created for themselves a thousand years ago a name which men still respect, you should give the name of German such cause to be remembered in China that no Chinaman will dare look a German in the face.
- Kaiser Wilhelm II, 1900, to troops leaving to fight the Boxer Rebellion.
We begged the white men to leave us alone, saying we could get no more rubber, but the white men and their soldiers said, "Go! You are only beasts yourselves. You are only meat." Many of us were shot, some had their ears cut off, others were tied up with ropes round their necks and bodies and taken away.
- Inhabitants of King Leopold's Congo Free State quoted in Roger Casement's Report, 1903
Whatever happens, we have got
The Maxim gun, and they have not.
- Hilaire Belloc, 1909
Oh if the Queen were a man she would like to go and give those horrid Russians, whose word one cannnot trust, such a beating!
- Queen Victoria, 1878
If ever there is another war in Europe, it will come out of some damned silly thing in the Balkans.
- Otto von Bismarck
Allez trouver son Excellence et priez de le venir baiser mon cul.
- King Wilhelm I of Prussia, 1870, in reply to a diplomatic request by the French ambassador. France declared war on Prussia shortly afterwards.
- Feodor Tyutchev, Russian Pan-Slavic writer, 1849
As the great champion of freedom and national independence, he conquers and annexes half the world, and calls it colonisation. He does everything on principle. He fights you on patriotic principles; he robs you on business principles; he enslaves you on imperial principles.
- George Bernard Shaw, 1895; line from the play 'The Man of Destiny'
We have conquered for ourselves a place in the sun. It will now be my task to see to it that this place in the sun remains our undisputed possession, for our future lies upon the water.
- Kaiser Wilhelm II, 1901
Your fathers worked hard, fought hard and died hard to make this Empire for you. Don't let them look down from Heaven and see you loafing about with hands in your pockets doing nothing to keep it up.
- Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, 1908
Just as the Huns under their king Attila created for themselves a thousand years ago a name which men still respect, you should give the name of German such cause to be remembered in China that no Chinaman will dare look a German in the face.
- Kaiser Wilhelm II, 1900, to troops leaving to fight the Boxer Rebellion.
We begged the white men to leave us alone, saying we could get no more rubber, but the white men and their soldiers said, "Go! You are only beasts yourselves. You are only meat." Many of us were shot, some had their ears cut off, others were tied up with ropes round their necks and bodies and taken away.
- Inhabitants of King Leopold's Congo Free State quoted in Roger Casement's Report, 1903
Whatever happens, we have got
The Maxim gun, and they have not.
- Hilaire Belloc, 1909
Oh if the Queen were a man she would like to go and give those horrid Russians, whose word one cannnot trust, such a beating!
- Queen Victoria, 1878
If ever there is another war in Europe, it will come out of some damned silly thing in the Balkans.
- Otto von Bismarck
Allez trouver son Excellence et priez de le venir baiser mon cul.
- King Wilhelm I of Prussia, 1870, in reply to a diplomatic request by the French ambassador. France declared war on Prussia shortly afterwards.
"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives (at Gallipoli battles).. You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours.. You the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are now living in our bosom and are in peace. Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well. "M. kemal Atatürk.
"To see me does not necessarily mean to see my face. To understand my thoughts is to have seen me." M. Kemal Atatürk. (1881-1938)
"Airplanes can barely keep themselves in the air. How can they then carry any kind of load?"
- William Pickering, Astronomer (1908)
"To see me does not necessarily mean to see my face. To understand my thoughts is to have seen me." M. Kemal Atatürk. (1881-1938)
"Airplanes can barely keep themselves in the air. How can they then carry any kind of load?"
- William Pickering, Astronomer (1908)
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John Sedgwick
- Colonel
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"The secret of politics? Make a good treaty with Russia." - Otto von Bismarck (already posted but one of my favourites)
"Politics is the science of possibilities." - Bismarck
"The less people know about how sausages and laws are made, the better they'll sleep." - More accurate translation of a Bismarck quote already posted.
"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far" - African proverb, popularized in the west by Theodore Roosevelt
"History is more or less bunk. It's tradition. We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present, and the only history that is worth a tinker's damn is the history that we make today." - Henry Ford
"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." - Henry Ford
"Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result." - Winston Churchill
"Eternal peace is a dream, and not even a pleasant one" - Helmut von Moltke
"Religion is the opiate of the masses." - Karl Marx
"When Fortune empties her chamberpot on your head, smile and say, 'We are going to have a summer shower.'" - John A. MacDonald
"I would be quite willing, personally, to leave that whole country a wilderness for the next half-century but I fear if Englishmen do not go there, Yankees will." - John A. MacDonald
"There is no female mind. The brain is not an organ of sex. Might as well speak of a female liver." Charlotte Perkins Gilman
"Politics is the science of possibilities." - Bismarck
"The less people know about how sausages and laws are made, the better they'll sleep." - More accurate translation of a Bismarck quote already posted.
"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far" - African proverb, popularized in the west by Theodore Roosevelt
"History is more or less bunk. It's tradition. We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present, and the only history that is worth a tinker's damn is the history that we make today." - Henry Ford
"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." - Henry Ford
"Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result." - Winston Churchill
"Eternal peace is a dream, and not even a pleasant one" - Helmut von Moltke
"Religion is the opiate of the masses." - Karl Marx
"When Fortune empties her chamberpot on your head, smile and say, 'We are going to have a summer shower.'" - John A. MacDonald
"I would be quite willing, personally, to leave that whole country a wilderness for the next half-century but I fear if Englishmen do not go there, Yankees will." - John A. MacDonald
"There is no female mind. The brain is not an organ of sex. Might as well speak of a female liver." Charlotte Perkins Gilman
"I'm ashamed of you, dodging that way. They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance."
Some amusing quotes credited to British leaders in India. The quotes required a knowledge of Latin:
"Paccavi"
Charles Napier 1843
"I have sinned" - announcing the conquest of the India province of Sind (I have Sind).
"Nunc fortunatus sum"
Colin Campbell 1857
"I am in Luck now" - Campbell relief force entering Lucknow (I am in Lucknow).
"Vovi"
Lord Dalhousie 1856
"I have vowed" - Announcing the seizure of Oudh, which led to the Indian Mutiny (I have Oudh).
"Paccavi"
Charles Napier 1843
"I have sinned" - announcing the conquest of the India province of Sind (I have Sind).
"Nunc fortunatus sum"
Colin Campbell 1857
"I am in Luck now" - Campbell relief force entering Lucknow (I am in Lucknow).
"Vovi"
Lord Dalhousie 1856
"I have vowed" - Announcing the seizure of Oudh, which led to the Indian Mutiny (I have Oudh).
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
'Nous voilà, Lafayette'
Colonel C.E. Stanton, aide to A.E.F. commander John 'Black Jack' Pershing, upon the landing of the first US troops in France 1917
'Nous voilà, Lafayette'
Colonel C.E. Stanton, aide to A.E.F. commander John 'Black Jack' Pershing, upon the landing of the first US troops in France 1917
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H Gilmer3
- AGEod Grognard
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- Location: United States of America
William Tecumseh Sherman
"Grant stood by me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when he was drunk, and now we stand by each other. "
I think I understand what military fame is; to be killed on the field of battle and have your name misspelled in the newspapers.
If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast.
And of course, he coined the oft quoted "War is Hell." (I think he coined it.)
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French General Charles Mangin
"Whatever you do, you lose a lot of men."
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Ferdinand Foch
It takes 15,000 casualties to train a Major General.
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Baron von Richtofen describing battle with Lanoe Hawker and just a general quote after
"At one point he waved at me!"
"Everything depends on whether we have for opponents those French tricksters or those daring rascals, the English. I prefer the English. Frequently their daring can only be described as stupidity. In their eyes it may be pluck and daring."
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US Marine Captain Lloyd W. Williams
Retreat? Hell, we just got here!!
"Grant stood by me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when he was drunk, and now we stand by each other. "
I think I understand what military fame is; to be killed on the field of battle and have your name misspelled in the newspapers.
If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast.
And of course, he coined the oft quoted "War is Hell." (I think he coined it.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
French General Charles Mangin
"Whatever you do, you lose a lot of men."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ferdinand Foch
It takes 15,000 casualties to train a Major General.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Baron von Richtofen describing battle with Lanoe Hawker and just a general quote after
"At one point he waved at me!"
"Everything depends on whether we have for opponents those French tricksters or those daring rascals, the English. I prefer the English. Frequently their daring can only be described as stupidity. In their eyes it may be pluck and daring."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
US Marine Captain Lloyd W. Williams
Retreat? Hell, we just got here!!
I am reading Foreman's 'A World on Fire' which contains two amusing quotes on GBR Prime Minister Palmerston:
A Frenchman attempting to complement Palmerston: "If I were not a Frenchman, I should wish to be an Englishman".
Palmerston: "If I were not an Englishman, I should wish to be an Englishman".
Prussian quotation: "Hat der Teufel einen Sohn, so ist er sicher Palmerston". (If the Devil has a son, surely he must be Palmerston)
A Frenchman attempting to complement Palmerston: "If I were not a Frenchman, I should wish to be an Englishman".
Palmerston: "If I were not an Englishman, I should wish to be an Englishman".
Prussian quotation: "Hat der Teufel einen Sohn, so ist er sicher Palmerston". (If the Devil has a son, surely he must be Palmerston)
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
'Nous voilà, Lafayette'
Colonel C.E. Stanton, aide to A.E.F. commander John 'Black Jack' Pershing, upon the landing of the first US troops in France 1917
'Nous voilà, Lafayette'
Colonel C.E. Stanton, aide to A.E.F. commander John 'Black Jack' Pershing, upon the landing of the first US troops in France 1917
Some famous peoples use of the 'F' word
General Custer Where did all them f.....ing Indians come from?
Mayor of Hiroshima "What the f was that?"
Captain of the Titanic "Where's all the f....ing water coming from?
Anne Boleyn "Heads are going to f....ing roll."
Joan of Arc "I don't suppose it will f......ing rain."
Harold, Battle of Hastings 1066 "Watch him he'll have some f....er's eye out"
William Tell "Keep F....ing Still."
General Custer Where did all them f.....ing Indians come from?
Mayor of Hiroshima "What the f was that?"
Captain of the Titanic "Where's all the f....ing water coming from?
Anne Boleyn "Heads are going to f....ing roll."
Joan of Arc "I don't suppose it will f......ing rain."
Harold, Battle of Hastings 1066 "Watch him he'll have some f....er's eye out"
William Tell "Keep F....ing Still."
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yellow ribbon
- Posts: 2245
- Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2011 5:42 pm
"Whatever the label on the parties, or the war cries issuing from the demagogues who lead them, the practical choice is between the plutocracy on the one side and a rabble of preposterous impossibilists on the other."
"An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup."
"Capitalism under democracy has a further advantage: its enemies, even when it is attacked, are scattered and weak, and it is usually easily able to array one half of them against the other half, and thus dispose of both."
all from
Henry Louis Mencken 1880-1956
"An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup."
"Capitalism under democracy has a further advantage: its enemies, even when it is attacked, are scattered and weak, and it is usually easily able to array one half of them against the other half, and thus dispose of both."
all from
Henry Louis Mencken 1880-1956
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Sir Garnet
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Some "quotes" from the inimitable Sir Harry Paget Flashman, VC:
"Never kick a man when he is down, he may get up again."
"Some wiseacre once said that the prospect of death concentrates the mind wonderfully, but I am here to tell you that the chance to work out a reprieve concentrates it a whole heap more."
"There is no sight more inspiring or heart warming than troops marching out to battle when you ain't going with them."
"Never kick a man when he is down, he may get up again."
"Some wiseacre once said that the prospect of death concentrates the mind wonderfully, but I am here to tell you that the chance to work out a reprieve concentrates it a whole heap more."
"There is no sight more inspiring or heart warming than troops marching out to battle when you ain't going with them."
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
'Nous voilà, Lafayette'
Colonel C.E. Stanton, aide to A.E.F. commander John 'Black Jack' Pershing, upon the landing of the first US troops in France 1917
'Nous voilà, Lafayette'
Colonel C.E. Stanton, aide to A.E.F. commander John 'Black Jack' Pershing, upon the landing of the first US troops in France 1917
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yellow ribbon
- Posts: 2245
- Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2011 5:42 pm
whenever i find time to see in forums how people behave in PONs colonial action and wars, it just strikes me...
"War is much too serious a matter to be entrusted to the military."
again Georges Clemenceau
************
"Wars teach us not to love our enemies, but to hate our allies."
Walther L. George
"War is much too serious a matter to be entrusted to the military."
again Georges Clemenceau
************
"Wars teach us not to love our enemies, but to hate our allies."
Walther L. George
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yellow ribbon
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- Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2011 5:42 pm
and rather in general, than to make fun:
Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.
(i believe he learned it from the Gallipoli desaster)
Churchill 1874 - 1965
Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.
(i believe he learned it from the Gallipoli desaster)
Churchill 1874 - 1965
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