Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene beside the concrete names of villages, the numbers of roads, the names of rivers, the numbers of regiments and the dates.

Ernest Hemingway
About This Quote

The speaker is comparing the honor and glory of war to the mundane tasks of everyday life. The speaker uses concrete words that are more easily understood by his audience, rather than abstract words that are difficult to understand.

Source: A Farewell To Arms

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