Chapter Forty Nine: Battles and Scars

Another of the hard things of being in a war,

grandchildren, is that although there are

times of quiet when the fighting has stopped,

you know you will soon be fighting again.

Those quiet times give you the chance to

think about what has happened. Some of it you

would rather not think about, as you remember

the pain and the sorrow. You also have time

to worry about what will happen when

you go into battle again.

Joseph Bruchac, Code Breaker: A Novel About

the Navajo Marines of World War Two

We don't choose our enemies, Robert thought.

They choose us -- and there is not a damn

thing that we can do about it.

Jennifer Valoppi, Certain Cure:

Where Science Meets Religion

I found peace of mind when I walked away from

small fights not worth fighting. I stopped

fighting for people who gossiped about me.

I stopped fighting for those who didn't respect

me. I quit worrying about those who wouldn't

value me for being me.

Dana Arcuri, Sacred Wandering:

Growing Your Faith in the Dark

There is a time for a fight and a time for

a flight; knowing the right time to do one or

the other can mean the difference between

life and death.

Bangambiki Habyarimana, Pearls of Eternity

If we win by losing ourselves,

by losing what we are fighting for,

then we really never win.

Meg Collett, Fear University

God created war so that Americans

would learn geography.

Mark Twain

War must be, while we defend our lives

against a destroyer who would devour all;

but I do not love the bright sword for its

sharpness, nor the arrows for its swiftness,

nor the warrior for his glory.

I love only that which they defend.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

He is a weapon, a killer. Do not forget it.

You can use a spear as a walking stick,

but that will not change its nature.

Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles

There's never been a true war that wasn't

fought between two sets of people who were

certain they were in the right. The really

dangerous people believe they are doing

whatever they are doing solely and only because

it is without question the right thing to do.

And that is what makes them dangerous.

Neil Gaiman, American Gods

I am young, I am twenty years old;

yet, I know nothing of life but despair, death,

fear, and fatuos superficiality cast over an

abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set

against one another, and in sikence,

knowingly, foolishly, obediently,

innocently slay one another.

Erich Maria Remarque,

All Quiet on the Western Front

Peace is more than the absence of war.

Peace is accord. Harmony.

Laini Taylor, Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Do you think it is possible

for an entire nation to be insane?

Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

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