“These men were the salt of the skies, the one out of ten who had determinedly stayed alive through the whole war, very often hurt, absolutely refusing to be killed.”
Source: Space Chantey (1968), Ch. 1
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
R. A. Lafferty 109
American writer 1914–2002Related quotes

“A lot of hard-faced men who look as if they had done very well out of the war.”
On the new MPs elected in 1918; quoted by John Maynard Keynes in Economic Consequences of the Peace, Ch. 5
1910s

Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 446-450.
General Quotes

“If you had killed Watson, you would not have got out of this room alive.”
Source: The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
On the casualty rate
Don Swaim interview (1975)
Context: Especially in the beginning of the war, the guys who became good soldiers, and good infantry men sort of had to accept that they were dead — that they weren't going to get out of it. The statistics were so much their enemy that there wouldn't be much chance that in four or five years, that they would survive it. Some did... and in fact most of the men who got in combat did survive it.<!-- 07:05

“A defeated argument that refuses to be obliterated can remain very alive.”