A Soldier's Declaration (July 1917)
Context: I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe that the War is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it.
I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. I believe that this War, on which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest.
Siegfried Sassoon: Quotes about war
Siegfried Sassoon was English poet, diarist and memoirist. Explore interesting quotes on war.
Siegfried Sassoon:
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“Let no one ever, from henceforth say one word in any way countenancing war.”
As quoted by Robert Nichols in his introduction to The Counter-Attack and Other Poems (1918)
Context: Let no one ever, from henceforth say one word in any way countenancing war. It is dangerous even to speak of how here and there the individual may gain some hardship of soul by it. For war is hell, and those who institute it are criminals. Were there even anything to say for it, it should not be said; for its spiritual disasters far outweigh any of its advantages.
"Base Details"
The Counter-Attack and Other Poems (1918)