The quote "The fruits of victory are tumbling into our mouths too quickly." is famous quote attributed to Hirohito (1901–1989), Emperor of Japan from 1926 until 1989.
To an aide, 29 April 1942, as quoted in Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness.
1962, Cuban Missile Crisis speech
“I pop a beautiful sentence into my mouth and suck it like a fruit drop.”
“For—good or bad—though from one mouth it flows,
Fame to a boundless torrent quickly grows.”
Che tosto o buona o ria che la fama esce
Fuor d'una bocca, in infinito cresce.
Canto XXXII, stanza 32 (tr. W. S. Rose)
Orlando Furioso (1532)
As quoted in Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War (1904) by George Francis Robert Henderson http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12233, Ch. 25 : The Soldier and the Man, p. 481
Context: War means fighting. The business of the soldier is to fight. Armies are not called out to dig trenches, to throw up breastworks, to live in camps, but to find the enemy and strike him; to invade his country, and do him all possible damage in the shortest possible time. This will involve great destruction of life and property while it lasts; but such a war will of necessity be of brief continuance, and so would be an economy of life and property in the end. To move swiftly, strike vigorously, and secure all the fruits of victory is the secret of successful war.
As quoted in Details (1993-11).
Interviews (1989-1994), Print
Letters and Papers from Prison (1967; 1997), The Friend
Speech to the Empire Rally of Youth at the Royal Albert Hall (18 May 1937), quoted in Service of Our Lives (1937), pp. 162-163.
1937
Context: The twenty post-War years have shown that war does not settle the account. There is a balance brought forward. When emancipation is achieved a new slavery may begin. The moment of victory may be the beginning of defeat. The days which saw the framing of the League of Nations saw the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Should both be entered on the credit side? Twenty years ago we should all have said, "Yes"; to-day the reply would be doubtful, for both have belied the hopes of mankind and given place to disillusion. Freedom for common men, which was to have been the fruit of victory, is once more in jeopardy in our own land because it has been taken away from the common men of other lands.
1963, Third State of the Union Address
