Monday, July 11, 2011

"But when men come face to face with war they are a little more ready for war- and a little less fond of it."

DR. PAUL: What on earth is the matter?

THE COLONEL:The infernal dogs! The damned-

MR. DESMOND [springing]: What do you mean? [looks over his shoulder] "Outrage by Russians on the Dogger Bank. British fishing-smack sunk!" Why, great God, Bartram, it's war! This is horrible!

THE COLONEL: Why I thought, Desmond, that war was a delightful game and Donnybrook-

MR. DESMOND: Don't play the fool. This is serious. I suppose we can avoid war, but-

DR. PAUL: It looks frightfully bad. If they deliberately fired on an English boat, how can we-

THE COLONEL: I thought, Doctor, that war was a crime everywhere and always?

DR. PAUL [furiously]: Oh, this is serious, my man.

THE COLONEL: Yes, and that is more, I think, than your theories were. That war is always jolly is a nice little theory. That war is always wicked is a nice little theory. But when men come face to face with war they are a little more ready for war- and a little less fond of it.

-Time's Abstract and Brief Chronicle (1904-1905)

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