Quote for this week is from “Gone With the Wind,” chapter 6. Everyone has gathered at the Wilkes for the barbecue and ball when Ashley is to announce his engagement to Melanie, and the men are having a “loud” discussion about whether the South should go to war with the North.
This is from Mr. McRae, described as “the deaf old gentleman from Fayetteville.”
“You fire-eating young buck, listen to me. You don’t want to fight. I fought and I know. Went out in the Seminole War and was a big enough fool to go to the Mexican War, too. You all don’t know what war is. You think it’s riding a pretty horse and having the girls throw flowers at you and coming home a hero. Well, it ain’t. No, sir! It’s going hungry, and getting the measles and pneumonia from sleeping in the wet. And if it ain’t measles and pneumonia, it’s your bowels. Yes sir, what war does to a man’s bowels – dysentery and things like that – ”
So relevant today. No matter the day or decade, war remains the same – controversial.
Tags: book club selection, classic, quote