Journey to a War Quotes

“That is what War is, I thought: two ships pass each other, and nobody waves his hand.”
― Christopher Isherwood, Journey to a War

“We wander on the earth, or err from bed to bed
in search of home, and fail, and weep for the lost ages
Before Because became As If, or rigid Certainty

The Chances Are. The base hear us, and the violent
Who long to calm our guilt with murder, and already
Have not been slow to turn our wish to their advantage.”
― W.H. Auden, Journey to a War

“Liberty to be and weep has never been sufficient:
The winds surround our griefs, the unfenced sky
To all our failures is a taciturn unsmiling witness.”
― W.H. Auden, Journey to a War

“We live here. We lie in the Present's unopened
Sorrow; its limits are what we are.
The prisoner ought never to pardon his cell.”
― W.H. Auden, Journey to a War

“But ideas can be true although men die,
And we can watch a thousand faces
Made active by one lie:

And maps can really point to places
Where life is evil now:
Nanking; Dachau.”
― W.H. Auden, Journey to a War

“We dwell upon the earth; the earth obeys
The intelligent and evil till they die.
The mountains cannot judge us when we lie.”
― W.H. Auden, Journey to a War