The military value of a partisan's work is not measured by the amount of property destroyed, or the number of men killed or captured, but by the number [of the enemy which] he keeps watching [him].
John S. MosbyRead
War loses a great deal of its romance after a soldier has seen his first battle.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The idealism of war fades once one experiences its true brutality.
This quote highlights the stark contrast between the romanticized notion of war and the harsh realities faced by soldiers. Initially, individuals may view war as an adventurous or noble endeavor, but witnessing combat transforms that perception, revealing the chaos and suffering involved, which often leads to a loss of enthusiasm for such ideals.
Themes
WarBattleRomanceRealitySoldier
In practice
Example use cases
During a memorial speech, one might use this quote to illustrate the psychological impacts of combat.
More from John S. Mosby
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Then somebody suggested I should write about the war, and I said I didn't know anything about the war. I did not understand anything about it. I didn't see how I could write it
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I think that this is the first war in history that on the morrow the victors sued for peace and the vanquished called for unconditional surrender.
Abba EbanRead
It's all rot that they put in the war-news about the good humour of the troops, how they are arranging dances almost before they are out of the front-line. We don't act like that because we are in a good humour: we are in a good humour because otherwise we should go to pieces.
Erich Maria RemarqueRead
We sit in calm, airy, silent rooms opening upon sunlit and embowered lawns, not a sound except of summer and of husbandry disturbs the peace; but seven million men, any ten thousand of whom could have annihilated the ancient armies, are in ceaseless battle from the Alps to the Ocean.
Winston ChurchillRead
The enemy is still proud and powerful. He is hard to get at. He still possesses enormous armies, vast resources, and invaluable strategic territories...No one can tell what new complications and perils might arise in four or five more years of war. And it is in the dragging-out of the war at enormous expense, until the democracies are tired or bored or split that the main hopes of Germany and Japan must reside.
Winston ChurchillRead
Having found the bomb we have used it. We have used it against those who attacked us without warning at Pearl Harbor, against those who have starved and beaten and executed American prisoners of war, against those who have abandoned all pretense of obeying international laws of warfare. We have used it in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans.
Harry S. TrumanRead