Generals aren't in the business of commenting on the correctness or incorrectness of the President's decisions. Anybody who thinks he should be able to do that ought to be fired on the spot.
Norman SchwarzkopfRead
All you have to do is hold your first soldier who is dying in your arms, and have that terribly futile feeling that I can't do anything about it... Then you understand the horror of war.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote conveys the deep emotional impact and helplessness faced by soldiers witnessing death in war, highlighting its horror.
Norman Schwarzkopf's quote encapsulates the devastating reality of war, emphasizing the moment a soldier holds their dying comrade, which brings a profound sense of helplessness and horror. This experience transcends any abstract understanding of conflict, instead demonstrating the personal and visceral pain that comes from the loss of life in battle.
Themes
WarHorrorDeathSoldierHelplessnessConflict
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used to open a discussion on the psychological impact of war in a veterans' support group.
More from Norman Schwarzkopf
All quotes →As far as Saddam Hussein being a great military strategist, he is neither a strategist, nor is he schooled in the operational arts, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general, nor is he a soldier. Other than that, he's a great military man, I want you to know that.
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I am living proof that if you catch prostate cancer early, it can be reduced to a temporary inconvenience, and you can go back to a normal life.
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Good generalship is a realization that... you've got to try and figure out how to accomplish your mission with a minimum loss of human life.
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I'm not proud of killing, of being responsible for the death of a single person. I never will be.
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The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.
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If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-- My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
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