Soldiers, when committed to a task, can't compromise. It's unrelenting devotion to the standards of duty and courage, absolute loyalty to others, not letting the task go until it's been done.
John KeeganRead
The Second World War is the largest single event in human history, fought across six of the world's seven continents and all it oceans. It killed 50 million human beings, left hundreds of millions of others wounded in mind or body and materially devastated much of the heartland of civilization.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The Second World War was an unprecedented global conflict that resulted in immense loss and suffering.
This quote emphasizes the scale and significant impact of the Second World War, highlighting not only the staggering number of lives lost but also the profound effects on the survivors and the physical and societal devastation that resulted. It serves as a reminder of the colossal consequences of war on humanity and civilization as a whole.
Themes
World WarHistoryConflictLossDevastation
In practice
Example use cases
In a history class discussion about global conflicts, this quote can be used to illustrate the magnitude of World War II.
More from John Keegan
All quotes →Of whatever class or nation, however, all successful participants in the repetitive and unrelenting stress of aerial fighting came eventually to display its characteristic physiognomy: skeletal hands, sharpened noses, tight-drawn cheek bones, the bared teeth of a rictus smile and the fixed, narrowed gaze of men in a state of controlled fear.
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Men killing other men really is an extraordinary phenomenon. Why does it happen? And how long has it gone on? And have the motives changed?
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