“I have no interest at all in food and drink, but only in slaughter and blood and the agonized groans of mangled men”
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Homér217
Ancient Greek epic poet, author of the Iliad and the OdysseyRelated quotes
Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805–1844) American religious leader and the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement
1840s
“Food. Drink. Sleep. Books. They are all drugs.”
Fay Weldon (1931) English author, essayist and playwright
Source: The Fat Woman's Joke
William T. Sherman (1820–1891) American General, businessman, educator, and author.
Letter to James E. Yeatman of St. Louis, Vice-President of the Western Sanitary Commission (21 May 1865). As quoted on p. 358, and footnoted on p. 562, in Sherman: A Soldier's Passion For Order https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/080938762X (2007), John F. Marszalek, Southern Illinois University Press, Chapter 15 ('Fame Tarnished')<br>Variant text: I confess, without shame, that I am sick and tired of fighting — its glory is all moonshine; even success the most brilliant is over dead and mangled bodies, with the anguish and lamentations of distant families, appealing to me for sons, husbands, and fathers […] it is only those who have never heard a shot, never heard the shriek and groans of the wounded and lacerated […] that cry aloud for more blood, more vengeance, more desolation. […] I declare before God, as a man and a soldier, I will not strike a foe who stands unarmed and submissive before me, but would rather say—‘Go, and sin no more.’<br>As quoted in Sherman: Merchant of Terror, Advocate of Peace https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1455611891 (1992), Charles Edmund Vetter, Pelican Publishing, p. 289<br>See the Discussion Page for more extensive sourcing information. <br class="br">1860s, 1865, Letter to James E. Yeatman (May 1865) <br class="br">Context: I confess without shame that I am tired & sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. Even success, the most brilliant is over dead and mangled bodies […] It is only those who have not heard a shot, nor heard the shrills & groans of the wounded & lacerated (friend or foe) that cry aloud for more blood & more vengeance, more desolation & so help me God as a man & soldier I will not strike a foe who stands unarmed & submissive before me but will say ‘Go sin no more.
“The lesson is that dying men must groan;
And poets groan in rhymes that please the ear.”
John Wain (1925–1994) British writer
Poem Don't let's spoil it all, I thought that we were going to be such good friends.
Jacques Brel (1929–1978) Belgian singer-songwriter
If Only We Have Love (1957)
Context: If we only have love
We will never bow down
We'll be tall as the pines
Neither heroes nor clowns.
If we only have love
Then we'll only be men
And we'll drink from the Grail
To be born once again;
Then with nothing at all
But the little we are
We'll have conquered all time
All space, the sun, and the stars!
Rod McKuen (1933–2015) American poet, songwriter, composer, and singer
As closing scene in the 1968 musical Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (1975 film version) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdSXpC8fbNA <br class="br">Translations and adaptations, If We Only Have Love (1968) <br class="br">Context: If we only have love<br>We will never bow down<br>We'll be tall as the pines<br>Neither heroes nor clowns.<br>If we only have love<br>Then we'll only be men<br>And we'll drink from the Grail<br>To be born once again<br>Then with nothing at all<br>But the little we are<br>We'll have conquered all time<br>All space, the sun, and the stars.
Ida Friederike Görres (1901–1971) Austrian writer and noble
Broken Lights p. 87 Diaries 1951-1952.
