Ashes and Diamonds Quotes

“I've seen men who thought they were brave turn out to be shameful cowards. Other people, who thought they were capable of the utmost self-sacrifice, proved to be hardened egotists. And the opposite, too - cowards doing things which needed toughness and unusual courage..... What does it all boil down to in the end? One must judge a man by what he does, and not by what he thinks he would do. Until a man faces the test, he can deceive himself endlessly.”
― Jerzy Andrzejewski, Ashes and Diamonds

“Instead of doing away with the class war, we ought to intensify it, catch our enemy by the throat, because if we don't kill them in time, they'll put a knife in our backs.”
― Jerzy Andrzejewski, Ashes and Diamonds

“We thought that not only would Germany come out of the war defeated, but Russia too. Things have turned out rather differently. In today's set-up we Poles are divided into two categories: those who have betrayed the freedom of Poland and those who do not wish to do so. The first wish to submit to Russia, we do not. They want Communism, we do not. They want to destroy us, we must destroy them. A battle is going on between us, a battle that has only just started.”
― Jerzy Andrzejewski, Ashes and Diamonds

“Dopóki człowiek nie musi siebie sprawdzić w czynie, może się oszukiwać bez żadnych ograniczeń.”
― Jerzy Andrzejewski, Ashes and Diamonds

“Każdy człowiek ma jakąś rację, tylko nie każda racja wychodzi na zdrowie.”
― Jerzy Andrzejewski, Ashes and Diamonds

“Instynkt życia najtrudniej zabić. Widziałem ludzi, którzy im głębiej staczali się w upodlenie, tym gwałtowniej pragnęli przetrwać wszystko i ocalić siebie.”
― Jerzy Andrzejewski, Ashes and Diamonds

“Para vivir hay que aprender a mirar la muerte con cierta indiferencia. No hay que dedicar a los muertos demasiados sentimientos ni pensar en ellos en exceso. No lo necesitan. No necesitan nada. No existen. Sólo los vivos existen.”
― Jerzy Andrzejewski, Ashes and Diamonds

“There's an end to all truth now that the war's over. We've seen too much. The conjurers and cardsharpers have given away their tricks. It's the end of blackmail.”
― Jerzy Andrzejewski, Ashes and Diamonds