Once an Eagle

by Anton Myrer

“You can’t help what you were born and you may not have much to say about where you die, but you can and you should try to pass the days in between as a good man.”

Inflexibility—it was the worst human failing: you could learn to check impetuosity, you could overcome fear through confidence and laziness through discipline, but rigidity of mind allowed for no antidote. It carried the seeds of its own destruction.

…Victory is a matter of opportunities clearly seen and swiftly exploited.”

The surprise attack on the unready nation will be the hallmark of the next war.

Experience was valuable only if one imbued it with meaning, drew from it purposeful conclusions.

“Paths of glory lead but to the grave,”

“Massengale will never make an enemy and he’ll never have a friend.”

“When you ask men to die, to endure great hardship, they have the right to know the purpose that demands that sacrifice,” Lin said softly. “They have the right to be treated like men—with all honor due them—all honor due their inextinguishable souls …”

Let me not fail them.

The essence of leadership was an unerring ability to winnow the essential from the trivial or extraneous.

“That’s the whole challenge of life—to act with honor and hope and generosity, no matter what you’ve drawn. You can’t help when or what you were born, you may not be able to help how you die; but you can—and you should—try to pass the days between as a good man …”