“Meanwhile the hooked weapons of their enemies were not idle, and our wretched countrymen were dragged from the wall and dashed against the ground.”

— Gildas, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae

Section 19.
Gildas here describes post-Roman Britons on Hadrian's Wall defending it against the Scots and Picts below. This bizarre image, familiar to students of British history for generations, is belied by a more recent translation which runs, "Meanwhile there was no respite from the barbed spears flung by their naked opponents, which tore our wretched countrymen from the walls and dashed them to the ground." (Michael Winterbottom (trans.) Gildas: The Ruin of Britain and Other Works (1978) p. 23).
De Excidio Britanniae (On the Ruin of Britain)

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British monk, historian and saint 500–570

Douglas Reeman (1924–2017) British author

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Vasily Grossman (1905–1964) Soviet writer and journalist who originally trained as an engineer

1960s

“People who are intolerant, categorize and over-react… should all be dragged against a wall and shot.”

Arthur M. Jolly (1969) American writer

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P. W. Botha (1916–2006) South African prime minister

As state president at a parade of the SA Police College, Pretoria, 20 June 1986, as cited in PW Botha in his own words, Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1987, p. 37

“I never saw a man fight as Conan fought. He put his back to the courtyard wall, and before they overpowered him the dead men were strewn in heaps thigh-deep about him. But at last they dragged him down, a hundred against one.”

Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) American author

Valerius recounting the tale of how Conan was caught
"A Witch Shall Be Born" (1934)

“Oh, there are evil moments in our life,
When but a thought, a word, a look, has power
To dash the cup of happiness aside,
And stamp us wretched!”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) English poet and novelist

The Vow of the Peacock (1835)

“Art is not made to decorate rooms. It is an offensive weapon in the defense against the enemy.”

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer

La peinture n'est pas faite pour décorer des appartements. C'est un instrument de guerre offensive et défensive contre l'ennemi.
La pintura no se ha inventado para adornar las habitaciones. La pintura es un arma ofensiva, en la defensa contra el enemigo.
Les lettres françaises (1943-03-24).
Quotes, 1940's

“From Iran's different faiths, ethnic groups and social sectors, from the left to the right of the political spectrum, from my brave countrymen and women struggling for human dignity and freedom, this is the message I carry to you: As you face our oppressors, do not turn your back to us. We are your best friends in the struggle against a common enemy, the enemy of peace on earth.”

Reza Pahlavi (1960) Last crown prince of the former Imperial State of Iran

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“It's like banging my head against the wall, except if I were actually banging my head on a wall, I'd be able to make myself stop.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

“We were dragged into folly by the Americans over Iran. We were dragged into folly by the Americans over Afghanistan. Neither national interest nor moral obligation requires us to be dragged by them into folly over Poland.”

Enoch Powell (1912–1998) British politician

The Times (8 January 1982), from Simon Heffer, Like the Roman. The Life of Enoch Powell (Phoenix, 1999), pp. 852-3
1980s

“Meanwhile the hooked weapons of their enemies were not idle, and our wretched countrymen were dragged from the wall and dashed against the ground.”

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