“For after all, why do we go on fighting? If we die for democracy then we must be one of the democracies. Let the rest fight with us, if that is the case. But the most powerful of them, the only one that could save us, chooses to bide its time. Very good. That is its right. But by so doing, that democracy signifies that we are fighting for ourselves alone. And we go on fighting despite the assurance that we have lost the war. Why, then, do we go on dying? Out of despair? But there is no despair. You know nothing about defeat if you think there is room in it for despair. There is a verity that is higher than the pronouncements of the intelligence. There is a thing which pierces and governs us and which cannot be grasped by the intelligence. A tree has no language. We are a tree. There are truths which are evident, though not to be put into words. I do not die in order to obstruct the path of the invasion, for there is no shelter upon which I can fall back with those I love. I do not die to preserve my honor, since I deny that my honor is at stake, and I challenge the jurisdiction of my judge. Nor do I die out of desperation.” WarDespairDefeat Book:Flight to Arras Source: Flight to Arras
“I know the meaning of humility. It is not self-disparagement. It is the motive power of action. If, intending to absolve myself, I plead fate as the excuse for my misfortunes, I subject myself to fate. If I plead treason as their excuse, I subject myself to treason. But if I accept responsibility, I affirm my strength as a man. I am able to influence that of which I form part. I declare myself a constituent part of the community of mankind.” InspirationalWarExistenceResponsibilityEnemyMankindHumilityFrancePlaneArras Book:Flight to Arras Source: Flight to Arras
“When I got back to my billet I found my farmer at table with his wife and niece. “Tell me,” I said to him; “how many instruments do you think a pilot has to look after?” “How should I know? Not my trade,” he answered. “Must be some missing, though, to my way of thinking. The ones you win a war with. Have some supper?” LifeInspirationalWarExistenceGunPurpose Of LifeSupperInstrument Book:Flight to Arras Source: Flight to Arras
“Must be some missing, though, to my way of thinking. The ones you win a war with. Have some supper?” LifeInspirationalWarExistenceGunPurpose Of LifeSupperInstrument Book:Flight to Arras Source: Flight to Arras
“In a world that's become a desert, we were thirsty for comrades; the taste of bread broken amongst comrades made us accept the values of war. But we don't need war to find the warmth that comes when walking together, shoulder to shoulder, towards the same goal.” WarPeaceFriendshipCamaraderie Book:Wind, Sand and Stars Source: Wind, Sand and Stars
“Dans un monde devenu désert, nous avions soif de retrouver des camarades: le goût du pain rompu entre camarades nous a fait accepter les valeurs de guerre. Mais nous n'avons pas besoin de la guerre pour trouver la chaleur des épaules voisines dans une course vers le même but.” WarFriendshipCamaraderieGuerrePaix Book:Wind, Sand and Stars Source: Wind, Sand and Stars