Part I, CH 2: Chamberlain, p. 29
The Killer Angels (1974)
Context: But he was fighting for the dignity of man and in that way he was fighting for himself. If men were equal in America, all these former Poles and English and Czechs and lacks, then they were equal everywhere, and there was really no such thing as a foreigner; there were only free men and slaves. And so it was not even patriotism but a new faith. The Frenchman may fight for France, but the American fights for mankind, for freedom; for the people, not the land.
“Whereas the Americans thought that they were fighting for such high-minded slogans as "liberty" and "justice," they were actually fighting to stuff the money bags of the big bankers. These "free citizens" are, in fact, mere marionettes; their freedom is imaginary, and a brief glance at American work-methods and leisure-time entertainments is enough to prove conclusively that l’homme machine is not merely imminent: it is already the American reality.”
Sämtliche Werke, vol. 4, p. 409, as translated by Joseph Pryce
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Ludwig Klages 8
German psychologist and philosopher 1872–1956Related quotes
“In the autumn of 1929 the mightiest of Americans were, for a brief time, revealed as human beings.”
Source: The Great Crash, 1929 (1954 and 1997 https://openlibrary.org/books/OL25728842M/The_Great_Crash_1929), Chapter I, A Year To Remember, p. 5
Harold L. Ickes
(1874–1952) American politician
"What Is An American?" http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/ickes.htm (18 May 1941)
Ilana Mercer
South African writer
"Finally, A War John McCain Doesn't Love, https://townhall.com/columnists/ilanamercer/2017/10/27/niger-finally-a-war-john-mccain-doesnt-love-n2401287" Townhall.com, October 27, 2017.
2010s, 2017
John F. Kennedy
(1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America
1963, Address at the Free University of Berlin
Eric Hoffer
(1898–1983) American philosopher
Source: The Ordeal of Change (1963), Ch. 12: "Concerning Individual Freedom". [In this passage "work, fight, talk, for liberty than have it" is a quotation of Lincoln Steffens from The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens (1931), p. 635]
George S. Patton
(1885–1945) United States Army general
Speech to the Third Army (1944)
Context: Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight.
Barack Obama
(1961) 44th President of the United States of America
2011, Remarks on death of Osama bin Laden (May 2011)
Context: The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded.
So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror: Justice has been done.