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;void(0)) . . . SOLDIERS see "WAR & PEACE" for related links see "WORK" for related links - There is no evidence that generals as a class make wiser national security policymakers than civilians. George C. Marshall, our greatest soldier statesman after George Washington, opposed shipping arms to Britain in 1940. His boss, Franklin D. Roosevelt, with nary a day in uniform, thought otherwise. Whose judgment looks better? A few soldiers become great diplomats or great politicians; others are abject failures. Most avoid the field altogether. Military careers spent in hierarchical, rule-bound, tightly controlled organizations are not necessarily the best preparation for accurately judging the fluid world of politics at home and abroad. --Eliot A. Cohen The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten. --Calvin Coolidge (1872—1933) American Republican statesman and President [1923—1929]. Speech at Northhampton, Massachusetts, accepting the Republican vice-presidential nomination [27 July 1920]. Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier. --Samuel Johnson (1709—1784) English poet, critic, and lexicographer. In James Boswell _Life of Samuel Johnson_ [1791] [10 April 1778]. - "Tommy" by Rudyard Kipling (1865—1936) English writer and poet. I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer, The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here." The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die, I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I: O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away"; But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play, The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play, O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play. I went into a theatre as sober as could be, They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me; They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls, But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls! For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside"; But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide, The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide, O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide. Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap; An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit. Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?" But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll, The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll, O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll. We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too, But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you; An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints, Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints; While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind", But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind, There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind, O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind. You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all: We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational. Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace. For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!" But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot; An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please; An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool — you bet that Tommy sees! - In the forties, when Ted Williams first gave up his lucrative and magnificent baseball career to go fight the Germans, that was heroism, but it was also routine. Jimmy Stewart was a huge movie star, and he went, as did Gable and Henry Fonda and Tyrone Power and plenty of others. Rich kids, too, like Jack Kennedy and George Herbert Walker Bush, also signed up, because some things were more important than money. Nowadays, we talk a good game about how much we love and support our military personnel, but the truth is it's a mercenary army made up of the poorest members of society with the most limited career choices, who stand up and fight so we don't have to. The public is really no more in touch with the soldiers who protect them than millionaire athletes today are in touch with the fans. Which is why a Pat Tillman is so impressive. Because Pat Tillman is doing the same thing Ted Williams did, but he's doing it today. Today, when a guy would have to be missing the padding in his helmet to even consider giving up the multi-million dollar contracts and the endorsement deals all so he can go eat sand in Crapistan for eighteen grand a year. But that's exactly what Tillman is doing, having said goodbye to his $1.2-million-dollar-a-year job as the Arizona Cardinals leading tackler. When it comes to understanding that "hero" is higher than "celebrity," and not the other way around, Pat Tillman gets it. Lots of Americans don't, including the media, who attempt to "celebrify" every legitimate hero of 9/11, and even did it to the first soldier killed in Afghanistan, CIA agent Johnny Spann. You couldn't watch a news broadcast the week he died without seeing some tear-jerk piece about his career and his wife and his three children and exactly where he lived — you know, all the information a dead CIA operative would want out there. Forget that he was a member of a clandestine service or that publicizing his personal life might put his family at risk, the important thing was that we got an Access Hollywood segment out of it. If you don't love Pat Tillman already for leaving football for life, and maybe death, how about this: he did the whole thing, made such a drastic change in his life, without sitting for one interview, or in any way involving the media. I don't know about you, but that's a hero to me. --Bill Maher (1956— ) American comedian and author. _When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden_ [2002], "A Hill of Beans" - ^ Before I sit down to watch the Memorial Day Concert on PBS I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to all who served in WW II. I was a young girl in Britain when we were 'invaded' by hordes of gum-chewing, wise-cracking young men who tore up our beautiful fields to lay down runways for the aircraft that would soon be taking off on missions. At first we resented those loud, brash fellows who drove too fast on our country lanes and who filled up our pubs. They were young, wonderfully handsome and cocky in their new-found roles of about-to-be-heroes. They soon became 'our boys'. I was able to be with some of them after D-Day at a Red Cross Club in London. Their youthful brashness was gone — they would never quite be young again. My thanks to their families and all those on the Home Front who also 'served'. Now I will go and watch the program with a tug of the heartstrings as memories come flooding in. --Lorna May soc.retirement (Usenet newsgroup) [24 May 1998] ^ I do not believe in using women in combat, because females are too fierce. --Margaret Mead (1901—1978) American anthropologist. Do not place military cemeteries where they can be seen by replacements marching to the front. --George S. Patton, Jr. (1885—1945) American general. "'Battle tricks' for officers" in _War As I Knew It_ [1947], ch. 3 - 'Forward, the Light Brigade!' Was there a man dismay'd ? Not tho' the soldier knew Some one had blunder'd: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. --Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809—1892) English poet. "The Charge of the Light Brigade" [1854] - With deep regret, I have concluded that general of the Army, Douglas MacArthur is unable to give his wholehearted support to the policies of the United States Government and of the United Nations in matters pertaining to his official duties. --Harry S. Truman (1884—1972) American Democratic statesman, President of the U.S. [1945—1953]. (In a public statement relieving General MacArthur of his command in the Far East [11 April 1951].) and note: I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barrack ballads of that day [around the turn of the century] which proclaimed most proudly that 'Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.' And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away — an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye. --Douglas MacArthur (1880—1964) American general. (Announcing his retirement in a congressional address [19 April 1951], after President Harry S. Truman dismissed him from command of UN forces in Korea.) - It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag. --Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, Sergeant, USMC (1923—2002) We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would harm us. --George Orwell [Eric Blair] (1903—1950) English novelist. - Billboard's #1 song from 1966: Fighting soldiers from the sky Fearless men who jump and die Men who mean just what they say The brave men of the Green Beret Silver wings upon their chest These are men, America's best One hundred men will test today But only three win the Green Beret Trained to live off nature's land Trained in combat, hand-to-hand Men who fight by night and day Courage peak from the Green Berets Back at home a young wife waits Her Green Beret has met his fate He has died for those oppressed Leaving her his last request Put silver wings on my son's chest Make him one of America's best He'll be a man they'll test one day Have him win the Green Beret. --Words and Music by Ssgt. Barry Sadler and Robin Moore The soldier is not a man of violence. He carries arms and risks his life for mistakes not of his making. He has the merit of being unflinchingly true to his word to the end, while knowing that he will be forgotten. --Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900—1944) French novelist. The little girl saw her first troop parade and asked, "What are those?" "Soldiers." "They are for war. They fight and each tries to kill as many of the other side as he can." The girl held still and studied. "Do you know...I know something?" "Yes, what is it you know?" "Sometime they'll give a war and nobody will come." --Carl Sandburg (1878—1967) American poet. "The Little Girl Saw Her First Troop Parade," in, _The People, Yes_ [1936]. --- After eating his entree at the mess hall the soldier went AWOL to binge on chocolate eclairs. He was charged for being a desserter. --anon. --- A soldier stationed in the South Pacific wrote to his wife in the States to please send him a harmonica to occupy his free time and keep his mind off of the local women. The wife complied and sent the best one she could find, along with several dozen lesson and music books. Rotated back home, he rushed to their home and thru the front door. "Oh darling" he gushed, "Come here... let me look at you... let me hold you ! Let's have a fine dinner out, then make love all night. I've missed your lovin' so much !" The wife, keeping her distance, said, "All in good time lover. First, let's hear you play that harmonica."  . . "I'm not afraid to die," I said. "I'm not afraid to live. I'm not afraid to fail. I'm not afraid to succeed. I'm not afraid to fall in love. I'm not afraid to be alone. I'm just afraid I might have to stop talking about myself for five minutes." --Kinky Friedman (1944— ) American singer, songwriter, and novelist. _When the Cat's Away_ [1988] New York (Wings Books), p. 449 He fell in love with himself at first sight and it is a passion to which he has always remained faithful. Self love seems so often unrequited. --Anthony Powell (1905—2000) English novelist. I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew so well. --Henry David Thoreau (1817—1862) American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher. _Walden_ [1854] - Oscar Wilde: When you and I are together we never talk about anything except ourselves. James Whistler: Oh no, Oscar, you forget. When you and I are together we never talk about anything except me. Wilde: It is true Jimmy, we were talking about you, but I was thinking of myself. --exchange by letter, quoted in Hesketh Pearson (1887—1964) English actor and biographer, _The Life of Oscar Wilde_ [1946].  SOLITUDE . . see: "ALONE" see: "LONELINESS" see: "OUTCASTS" see: "PEACE (OF MIND") see "LIFESTYLE" for related links He who is unable to live in society, or has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god. --Aristotle (384—322 B.C.) Greek philosopher. _Politics_ Little do men perceive what solitude is, and how far it extendeth. For a crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love. --Francis Bacon (1561—1626) English philosopher and essayist. _Essays_ [1625], "Of Friendship" What a lovely surprise to finally discover how unlonely being alone can be. --Ellen Burstyn [Edna Rae Gillooly] (1932— ) American film actress. To fly from, need not be to hate, mankind. --Lord Byron [George Gordon Byron] (1788—1824) English Romantic poet and satirist. "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" [1812-1818] You come into the world alone and you go out of the world alone yet it seems to me you are more alone while living than even going and coming. --Emily Carr (1871—1945) Canadian artist. _Hundreds and Thousands: The Journals of Emily Carr_ [1966] "16 July 1933" Better be alone than in bad company. --John Clarke (1596-1658) Comp. _Proverbs: English and Latine_ [1639] Oh to have a lodge in some vast wilderness. Where rumour of oppression and deceit, Of unsuccessful or successful war, Might never reach me more. --William Cowper (1731—1800) English poet and hymnodist. _The Task_, Book II "The Timepiece", l. 1 Solitude, though silent as light, is, like light, the mightiest of agencies; for solitude is essential to man. All men come into this world alone; all leave it alone. --Thomas De Quincey (1785—1859) English essayist and critic. _Suspiria De Profundis_ [1845], pt. II "The Affliction of Childhood" I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity. --Albert Einstein (1879—1955) German-American physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. I never said, 'I want to be alone.' I only said, 'I want to be *left* alone.' There is all the difference. --Greta Garbo [Greta Lovisa Gustafsson] (1905—1990) Swedish actress. Quoted in John Bainbridge _Garbo_ [1955]. Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius. --Edward Gibbon (1737—1794) English historian. Talents are best nurtured in solitude; character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world. --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749—1832) German poet, novelist, and playwright. Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife. --Thomas Gray (1716—1771) English poet. There is in every American, I think, something of the old Daniel Boone -- who, when he could see the smoke from another chimney, felt himself too crowded and moved further out into the wilderness. --Hubert H. Humphrey (1911—1978) 38th vice-president of the United States [1965-1969] and liberal senator [1949—1965 & 1971—1978]. Solitude is dangerous to reason, without being favourable to virtue: pleasures of some sort are necessary to the intellectual as to the corporeal health; and those who resist gaiety, will be likely for the most part to fall a sacrifice to appetite; for the solicitations of sense are always at hand, and a dram to a vacant and solitary person is a speedy and seducing relief. Remember that the solitary mind is certainly luxurious, probably superstitious, and possibly mad: the mind stagnates for want of employment, grows morbid, and is extinguished like a candle in foul air. --Samuel Johnson (1709—1784) English poet, critic, and lexicographer. Piozzi: _Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson_ Though the most beautiful creature were waiting for me at the end of a journey or a walk; though the carpet were of silk, the curtains of the morning clouds; the chairs and sofa stuffed with cygnet's down; the food manna, the wine beyond claret, the window opening on Winander Mere, I should not feel-or rather my happiness would not be so fine, as my solitude is sublime. --John Keats (1795—1821) English poet. [Letter, October 1818, to his brother and sister-in-law, George and Georgiana Keats] & (published in _Letters of John Keats_, ed. by Frederick Page [1954]. Isolation is aloneness that feels forced upon you, like a punishment. Solitude is aloneness you choose and embrace. I think great things can come out of solitude, out of going to a place where all is quiet except the beating of your heart. --Jeanne Marie Laskas Author. Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, Only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, Only a look and a voice; then darkness again and a silence. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807—1882) American poet. _Tales of a Wayside Inn_ [1863] "The Theologian's Tale: Elizabeth, IV", pt. III - I do not want to spend too long a time with boring people, but then I do not want to spend too long a time with amusing ones. I find social intercourse fatiguing. Most persons, I think, are both exhilarated and rested by conversation; to me it has always been an effort. When I was young and stammered badly, to talk for long singularly exhausted me, and even now that I have to some extent cured myself, it is a strain. It is a relief to me when I can get away and read a book. --W. Somerset Maugham (1874—1965) English novelist, playwright, and short-story writer. _The Summing Up_ [1938], Chapter XIX - Cultivate solitude and quiet and a few sincere friends, rather than mob merriment, noise and thousands of nodding acquaintances. --William Powell (1892—1984) American actor. Solitude vivifies, isolation kills. --Joseph Roux (1834—1886) French parish priest and writer. _Meditations of a Parish Priest_ tr. Isabel F. Hapgood [1886] Something of the hermit's temper is an essential element in many forms of excellence, since it enables men to resist the lure of popularity, to pursue important work in spite of general indifference or hostility, and arrive at opinions which are opposed to prevalent errors. --Bertrand Russell (1872—1970) British philosopher, mathematician, and Nobel laureate. _Power: A New Social Analysis_ [1938], ch. 2 If we are to survive, we must have ideas, vision, and courage. These things are rarely produced by committees. Everything that matters in our intellectual and moral life begins with an individual confronting his own mind and conscience in a room by himself. --Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (1917—2007) American historian. "The Decline of Greatness" in _Saturday Evening Post_ [1 November 1958] The young should early be trained to bear being left alone; for it is a source of happiness and peace of mind. --Arthur Schopenhauer (1788—1860) German philosopher. "Counsels and Maxims" in _Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer_, tr. T. Bailey Saunders One can acquire everything in solitude, except character. --Stendhal [Marie-Henri Beyle] (1783—1842) French writer. _On Love_ I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. --Henry David Thoreau (1817—1862) American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher. _Walden_ [1854], "Solitude" Language has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone, and the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone. --Paul Johannes Tillich (1886—1965) German-born American theologian. _The Eternal Now_ [1963] - Solitude never hurt anyone. Emily Dickinson lived alone, and she wrote some of the most beautiful poetry the world has ever known.....then she went as crazy as a loon. --Lisa Simpson of "The Simpsons" ----- ascetic (noun) [ê-'se-tik] Someone who, for spiritual reasons, rejects material comforts in favor of an austere life of abstinence and self-denial, usually as a hermit. eremite [ER-uh-myt], noun: A hermit, especially a religious recluse. Syn: lonely, solitary, desolate. invious (adj.) ['in-vi-ês] Impassable, inaccessible, without paths or roads.  SOLUTIONS . . see: "PROBLEMS" There are few situations in life that cannot be resolved promptly, and to the satisfaction of all concerned, by either suicide, a bag of gold, or thrusting a despised antagonist over a precipice on a dark night. --Ernest Bramah [Ernest Bramah Smith] (1868—1942) British author. What we're saying today is that you're either part of the solution or you're part of the problem. --[Leroy] Eldridge Cleaver (1935—1998) American black militant. Speech in San Francisco, California [1968]. Two heads are better than one. --John Heywood (1497—1580) English playwright. _Proverbs_ [1546] The best way to solve any problem is to remove its cause. --Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929—1968) American civil rights leader. _Stride Toward Freedom_ [1958], ch. 11 Explanations exist; they have existed for all times, for there is always an easy solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong. --H.L. (Henry Louis) Mencken (1880—1956) American journalist and literary critic. "The Divine Afflatus," _New York Evening Mail_ [15 November 1917] Things past redress are now with me past care. --William Shakespeare (1564—1616) English dramatist, _Richard II_ [1595] ----- panacea (noun) [pæ-nê-'see-ê] A remedy for everything, for all problems or difficulties; a cure-all, a catholicon. redress [rih-DRES], transitive verb: 1. To put in order again; to set right; to emend; to revise. 2. To set right, as a wrong; to repair, as an injury; to make amends for; to remedy; to relieve from. . . see "HOME & FAMILY" for related links I am naturally anxious about it, and of course it's a very delightful and consoling thing to have a grown- up son that one can put confidence in, and advise with; indeed I don't know any use there would be in having sons at all, unless people could put confidence in them. --Charles Dickens (1812—1870) English novelist. _Nicholas Nickleby_ [1839], Ch. 37 . . see "HOME & FAMILY" for related links Oh my son's my son till he gets him a wife, But my daughter's my daughter all her life. --Dinah Mulock Craik (1826—1887) English writer and poet. ----- filial [FIL-ee-uhl; FIL-yuhl], adjective: 1. Of, pertaining to, or befitting a son or daughter; as, filial obedience. 2. Having or assuming the relation of a child or offspring. Ex.: He would live with his mother for nearly his entire life, bound to her by an inordinate sense of filial piety. --Deborah Solomon, _Utopia Parkway_ ;void(0)) SOPHISTICATION . . Keating leaned back with a sense of warmth and well-being. He liked this book. It had made the routine of his Sunday morning breakfast a profound spiritual experience; he was certain that it was profound, because he didn't understand it. --Ayn Rand (1905—1982) Russian-born American writer. _The Fountainhead_ [1943] Part Two, "Ellsworth M. Toohey," Chapter 4 In 1940, [Evelyn] Waugh was charged with neglecting his duties during a training exercise; part of the charge filed against him was that he had been seen smoking a cigar and drinking claret. When pressed on this during a Court of Inquiry in 1945, he admitted to having been smoking a cheroot and drinking Burgundy, but demanded of the Court why he should be "run-in by an officer so ill-bred that he could not distinguish between these totally different things." --George Weigel, "St. Evelyn Waugh", _First Things_ [May 1993] ----- cosmopolite [koz-MOP-uh-lyt], noun: One who is at home in every place; a citizen of the world; a cosmopolitan person. Ex.: He was a big-city sophisticate and moved easily in international film circles but, like his exact contemporary, the Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima (also a globetrotting cosmopolite), Pasolini rejected the glossy consumer culture that had made him famous in favor of the standards of an earlier, more rigid and more traditional society. --Edmund White, "Movies and Poems," _New York Times_ [27 June 1982] couth (adj.) Showing very good manners or great social sophistication gauche [GOHSH], adjective: Lacking social polish; tactless; awkward; clumsy. urbane (adj.) [êr-'beyn] Suave, polite, sophisticated. end page | SACRED - SANTA CLAUS | SARCASM - SCHOOL | SCIENCE - SCULPTURE | SEA (THE) - SEEING | SELF - SELF-ESTEEM | SELF-EXAMINATION - SEMANTICS | SENATE (THE U.S.) - SERIOUSNESS | SEX | SEX SYMBOLS - SHEEP | SHIPS - SILENCE | SILLINESS - SINGING | SINGLE-MINDEDNESS - SKY | SLANDER - SMILES | SMOKING - SOCIETY | SOLDIERS - SOPHISTICATION | SORROW - SOUTH SEA | SPACE - SPEAKING | SPEECH - SPENDTHRIFTS | SPIDERS - SPY | SPORTS & SPORTSMANSHIP | STAGE (THE) - STERILIZATION | STOCK MARKET - STRANGERS | STRENGTH - SUBURBS | SUCCESS | SUFFERING - SUPREME COURT | SURPRISE - SYSTEM (THE) | | R | S | T | U - END | | Return Home | The Credits | The Cast | Act 1 | Act 2 | Act 3 | The End | The Reviews | Photos | |
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