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Oliver Wiswell QUOTES

Oliver Wiswell QUOTES

1 " If it's really education you want for Nathan,' Buell said, 'have him read the papers, so he'll know what's going on in the world, and why. Teach him to be interested in everything he doesn't understand - interested enough to find out about it from books or people that aren't afraid to tell the truth. "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

2 " All of us know history repeats itself, but mighty few of us recognize the repetition until too late. "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

3 " Valiant! The word mocked me, for I knew myself to be anything but valiant. What I had done, I had done in a fit of insane bitterness, not with cool courage, not with brave quick thinking, not with presence of mind - but with absence of it. "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

4 " People never believe anything - except scandal - when they first hear it. "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

5 " People never believe anything - except scandal - when they first heart it. "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

6 " Great men tell the truth and are never believed. Lesser men are always believed, but seldom have the brains or the courage to tell the truth. "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

7 " My God, Judge, do men believe whatever lie they hear about an enemy? "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

8 " If I was a private individual, I'd be more careful; but being as I'm a government, I'm privileged to make a God-damned fool of myself in any way I choose, especially by spending a lot more money than I've got or ever will have, and promising to do things that I ain't got a chance of doing. "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

9 " I'll never use force to try to make my enemies think the way I think, George - partly because I don't believe in it, and partly because it's useless. You can't destroy ideas by force, and you can't hide 'em by silence. "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

10 " I learned, then, beyond question, that if all the property in the world were distributed, and an equal share given to everyone, the bulk of mankind would soon be destitute, and a few would have everything. "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

11 " Approaching us through a haze of dust that overhung the road was a long column of men - a slovenly column that marched irregularly and out of step, so that it had the look of a gigantic centipede whose feet hurt. "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

12 " That's all war is - a consuming fever: a period of delirium and insanity, of misery, disappointment, discomfort, anxiety, despair, waste, weariness, boredom, brutality, death; and yet to every man in every war there comes a day worth living for: a day when a lifetime of excitement is packed into a few short hours. "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

13 " That's one reason why a civil war is worse than any other sort. When two parties in a given country resort to arms to settle political differences, every man is a potential enemy to every other man, and the distinction between legalized killing and murder is not clearly drawn in the minds of average men, who are incapable of sustained thought. Death is held to be a fitting reward for those who dare hold contrary views, and a nation involved in a civil war is a breeding ground for children reared to look with tolerance on next to nothing but violence. "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

14 " You needn't worry about me. I know enough to do what every man ought to do in wartime when he's watched and threatened by bullies. I conceal my feelings; lie whenever necessary; pretend to admire the rascals who've ruined our city and our country; cheer dolts, bullies and knaves and damn all wise temperate men! "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

15 " War's always the same! Children starve, women suffer, men lose their fortunes or turn into beasts! "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

16 " I wouldn't care to shoot my own townsmen over a difference of opinion about politics. Keep 'em yourself if you think you need 'em; but I suggest you'll be better off to put 'em away where you can't get at 'em. The trouble with a pistol is that if you show it, you've got to use it, and once you use it you've committed yourself. "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell

17 " ...the vague thought passed through my mind that all of us, probably, would die like that: unexpectedly, in the middle of something we wanted to do, instead of at the end of our endeavors, as we always fondly believe. "

― Kenneth Roberts , Oliver Wiswell