Lieutenant Hornblower Quotes

“Bush put both arms round Hornblower’s shoulders and walked with dragging feet. It did not matter that his feet dragged and his legs would not function while he had this support; Hornblower was the best man in the world and Bush could announce it by singing ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ while lurching along the alleyway.”
― C.S. Forester, Lieutenant Hornblower

“Hornblower worked as hard to conceal his human weaknesses as some men worked to conceal ignoble birth.”
― C.S. Forester, Lieutenant Hornblower

“I’d rather be in trouble for having done something than for not having done anything.”
― C.S. Forester, Lieutenant Hornblower

“which he knew to be constantly increasing. Hornblower was a man always ready to adopt the bold course, a man who infinitely preferred action to inaction; widely read in his profession and yet a practical seaman, as Bush had already had plenty of opportunity to observe. A student, yet a man of action; a fiery spirit and yet discreet — Bush remembered how tactfully he had acted during the crisis following the captain’s injury and how dexterously he had handled Buckland.”
― C.S. Forester, Lieutenant Hornblower

“The black northeast wind that greeted him in the street was no more cruel than the rest of the world.”
― C.S. Forester, Lieutenant Hornblower

“To bury the dead, to repair the damages, and to digest the realization of defeat.”
― C.S. Forester, Lieutenant Hornblower

“Hell was unchained, and the smoke of hell was eddying about him.”
― C.S. Forester, Lieutenant Hornblower

“The ability of the British sailor to get hold of liquor and his readiness to overindulge in it were part of his physical make-up, like his ears of his eyes.”
― C.S. Forester, Lieutenant Hornblower

“A ship of war manned for active service was the most crowded place in the world”
― C.S. Forester, Lieutenant Hornblower

“The wise man does not mix grain and grape”
― C.S. Forester, Lieutenant Hornblower

“despair. ‘He’ll”
― C.S. Forester, Lieutenant Hornblower