"This war will not be won by ... old, decaying serving men. We need men with fire in their bowels, who fear the Lord but not the enemy!"
"By their reluctance to pursue this war with the intensity it demands, they have proved themselves treacherous, both to our cause and to this nation. ... Honest men have served us faithfully, and many have died, that this House may sit in freedom, and this nation live in liberty. In the name of God I beseech you, do not desert them now."
"Anarchy, corruption, division, and dissatisfaction. I say that the enemies of this nation have flourished under your protection. You were from the beginning a ... government not truly representative of the people, for have the people elected you? ... You are ... godless, self-seeking, ambitious tricksters! You are no more capable of conducting the affairs of this nation than you are of running a brothel! ... You are scum, sir, and not truly elected scum, at that!"
-- Oliver Cromwell, circa 1644-'53, per Ken Hughes with Ronald Harwood in Cromwell, 1970
"I want you to remove all officers who won't fight. If necessary, put sergeants in charge of battalions and corporals in charge of companies -- anyone who will fight."
-- General Douglas MacArthur, circa 1943, per Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins in MacArthur, 1977
"Then sit still, my soul: foul deeds will rise,
Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes."
"Hold, my heart;
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,
But bear me stiffly up. -- Remember thee!
Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat
In this distracted globe. Remember thee!
Yea, from the table of my memory
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
That youth and observation copied there;
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with baser matter: yes, by heaven!"
-- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, circa 1603
