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David Gemmell on Veterans Day

1948–2006 England

← All quotes by David Gemmell

11 quotes

What truly makes a man who he is? Is it the strength of his arms, or the courage of his soul?

When your life has been spent in one war after another for forty-five years, you have to be pretty handy to survive.

I am not going to talk about patriotism, duty, liberty, and the defense of freedom — because that's all dung to a soldier.

Most wars are fought for greed, but we are luckier here—we fight for our lives and the lives of the people we love.

Constantly at war, the tribesmen fought one another with pitiless ferocity, and only the very strong survived to manhood.

War. What was it about the prospect of some bloody enterprises that reduced men to the level of animals?

No matter how impossible this war, I shall fight to win. Whatever I have to do, I will do.

War is for men, for honor and glory.

It would be a fine thing if war could be conducted as a game where no lives were lost. At the end of a battle combatants could meet [...] and drink and talk.

I don't give a damn, laddie. Until the actual moment, when they cut me down, I shall still be looking to win. And the gods of war are fickle at best.

[...] In real war an officer may have only one chance at succeeding. Consider each problem.

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: David Gemmell (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.