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Whenever the mind has led the body to an important decision, events have a way of assuming, momentarily, a half-symbolic nature. The mind plays that trick on you, and everything you see seems to partake of the quality of the decision you have made.

— Alvah Bessie Men in Battle (1939)

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More quotes by Alvah Bessie

Sunny Spain, land of mañana, where nothing was done today that could be put off till tomorrow!

Men in Battle (1939)

You cannot really believe in the existence of a foreign country until you see it.

Men in Battle (1939)

Those Americans who went to Spain to fight Franco and stave off World War II have never minded being called "premature anti-fascists." They were proud of the label.

Men in Battle (1939)

Ahead, muffled by distance, was the sound of artillery in the night- always more terrifying than it is by day, though less effective.

Fear is real and there is nothing you can do about it except to keep functioning, keep your hands and legs and body moving, your mind focused on the task at hand.

Men in Battle: A Story of Americans in Spain (1939)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Alvah Bessie (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.