“Men," he began his address to the officers, measuring his pauses carefully. "You're American officers. The officers of no other army in the world can make that statement. Think about it.”

—  Joseph Heller , book Catch-22

Source: Catch-22

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Men," he began his address to the officers, measuring his pauses carefully. "You're American officers. The officers of …" by Joseph Heller?
Joseph Heller photo
Joseph Heller 132
American author 1923–1999

Related quotes

John Adams photo

“No man who ever held the office of president would congratulate a friend on obtaining it. He will make one man ungrateful, and a hundred men his enemies, for every office he can bestow.”

John Adams (1735–1826) 2nd President of the United States

Letter to Josiah Quincy III (14 February 1825)
1820s

Bernard Cornwell photo

“Look after him, Lieutenant. An army isn't made of it's officers, you know, though we officers like to think it is. An army is no better than its men, and when you find good men, you must look after them. That's an officer's job.”

Bernard Cornwell (1944) British writer

Colonel Jean Gudin, p. 353
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Tiger (1997)

James K. Morrow photo

“Francis’s office did not come with a videophone; at times he was surprised that his office came with a floor.”

James K. Morrow (1947) (1947-) science fiction author

Source: The Wine of Violence (1981), Chapter 2 (p. 25)

Mao Zedong photo

“A proper measure of democracy should be put into effect in the army, chiefly by abolishing the feudal practice of bullying and beating and by having officers and men share weal and woe. Once this is done, unity will be achieved between officers and men, the combat effectiveness of the army will be greatly increased, and there will be no doubt of our ability to sustain the long, cruel war.”

Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

On Protracted Warfare (1938)
Original: (zh-CN) 军队应实行一定限度的民主化，主要地是废除封建主义的打骂制度和官兵生活同甘苦。这样一来，官兵一致的目的就达到了，军队就增加了绝大的战斗力，长期的残酷的战争就不患不能支持。

Oliver Hazard Perry photo

“Those officers and men who were immediately under my observation, evinced the greatest gallantry, and I have no doubt that all others conducted themselves as became American officers and seamen.”

Oliver Hazard Perry (1785–1819) United States Naval Officer

Report on the Battle of Lake Erie (13 September 1813)
Context: Those officers and men who were immediately under my observation, evinced the greatest gallantry, and I have no doubt that all others conducted themselves as became American officers and seamen. Lieutenant Yarnall, first of the LAWRENCE, although several times wounded, refused to quit the deck. Midshipman Forrest (doing duty as lieutenant) and sailing master Taylor, were of great assistance to me.

Hans Reiser photo

“You're about to experience chaos. [before farting in a police officer's face, while being photographed nude after his arrest]”

Hans Reiser (1963) American computer programmer, entrepreneur, and convicted murderer

Source: Wired article http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/01/oakland-califor.html

John Holt (Lord Chief Justice) photo

“If public officers will infringe men's rights, they ought to pay greater damages than other men, to deter and hinder other officers from the like offences.”

John Holt (Lord Chief Justice) (1642–1710) English lawyer and Lord Chief Justice of England

Ashby v. White (1703), 2 Raym. 956.
Ashby v. White (1703)

John Adams photo

“He began with an exordium, containing an apology for his resignation of the office of Advocate-General in the Court of Admiralty; and for his appearance in that cause, in opposition to the Crown, and in favor of the town of Boston, and the merchants of Boston and Salem.”

John Adams (1735–1826) 2nd President of the United States

1810s, Letter to William Tudor (1818)

Oswald Spengler photo

“The press today is an army with carefully organized weapons, the journalists its officers, the readers its soldiers. The reader neither knows nor is supposed to know the purposes for which he is used and the role he is to play.”

Oswald Spengler book The Decline of the West

The Decline of the West (1918, 1923)
Context: The press to-day is an army with carefully organized arms and branches, with journalists as officers, and readers as soldiers. But here, as in every army, the soldier obeys blindly, and war-aims and operation-plans change without his knowledge. The reader neither knows, nor is allowed to know, the purposes for which he is used, nor even the role that he is to play. A more appalling caricature of freedom of thought cannot be imagined. Formerly a man did not dare to think freely. Now he dares, but cannot; his will to think is only a willingness to think to order, and this is what he feels as his liberty.

Related topics