So the important thing in a military operation is victory, not persistence.

So the important thing in a military operation is victory, not persistence.

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

War can only be abolished through war, and in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to read more

War can only be abolished through war, and in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun.

A good plan violently executed today is better than a perfect plan executed tomorrow.

A good plan violently executed today is better than a perfect plan executed tomorrow.

The more characteristic American hero in the earlier day, and the more beloved type at all times, was not the read more

The more characteristic American hero in the earlier day, and the more beloved type at all times, was not the hustler but the whittler.

Listen, my friend, there are two races of beings. The masses teeming and happy -- common clay, if you like read more

Listen, my friend, there are two races of beings. The masses teeming and happy -- common clay, if you like -- eating, breeding, working, counting their pennies; people who just live; ordinary people; people you can't imagine dead. And then there are the others -- the noble ones, the heroes. The ones you can quite well imagine lying shot, pale and tragic; one minute triumphant with a guard of honor, and the next being marched away between two gendarmes.

The characteristic of genuine heroism is its persistency. All men have wandering impulses, fits and starts of generosity. But when read more

The characteristic of genuine heroism is its persistency. All men have wandering impulses, fits and starts of generosity. But when you have resolved to be great, abide by yourself, and do not try to reconcile yourself with the world. The heroic cannot be common, nor the common heroic.

Bardot, Byron, Hitler, Hemingway, Monroe, Sade: we do not require our heroes to be subtle, just to be big. Then read more

Bardot, Byron, Hitler, Hemingway, Monroe, Sade: we do not require our heroes to be subtle, just to be big. Then we can depend on someone to make them subtle.

No heroine can create a hero through love of one, but she can give birth to one.

No heroine can create a hero through love of one, but she can give birth to one.