"If they talk about dying for principles that are bigger than life you say mister you're a liar. Nothing is bigger than life. There's nothing noble in death. What's noble about lying in the gound and rotting? What's noble about never seeing the sunshine again? What's noble about having your legs and arms blown off? What's noble about being an idiot? What's noble about being blind and deaf and dumb? What's noble about being dead? Because when you're dead mister it's all over. It's the end. You're less than a dog less than a rat less than a bee or an ant less than a maggot crawling around on a dungheap. You're dead mister and you died for nothing. You're dead mister. Dead: Dalton Trumbo - Source: "Johnny Got His Gun" - The quote was written directly as it is found in the text with the same line endings, and the same lack of punctuation. Possibly the greatest anti-war novel ever written."
(And I agree with Tom about it being the greatest anti-war novel ever written. I first read the novel thirty years ago and I still remember my exact thought when I finished: "My God, this makes 'All Quiet on the Western Front' look like a comic book." To read this newsletter online http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/ or http://snipurl.com/ayzc)
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