Everyone Brave is Forgiven

by Chris Cleave

I was brought up to believe that everyone brave is forgiven, but in wartime courage is cheap and clemency out of season.

“I’ll say. One hardly remembers how we lived before. Lightly—not worrying much.” “Do you suppose we shall ever live that way again?” “Oh, who knows? Given sufficient champagne and ether.” “Maybe if we stay drunk to the end of our days, we shan’t remember.”

The young see the world that they wish for. The old see the world as it is. You must tell me which you think the more honest.”

We are a nation of glorious cowards, ready to battle any evil but our own.”