(On WWI:)A man of importance had been shot at a place I could not pronounce in Swahili or in English, and, because of this shooting, whole countries were at war. It seemed a laborious method of retribution, but that was the way it was being done..A messenger came to the farm with a story to tell. It was not a story that meant much as stories went in those days. It was about how the war progressed in German East Africa and about a tall young man who was killed in it.. It was an ordinary story, but Kibii and I, who knew him well, thought there was no story like it, or one as sad, and we think so now. The young man tied his shuka on his shoulder one day and took his shield and his spear and went to war. He thought war was made of spears and shields and courage, and he brought them all. But they gave him a gun, so he left the spear and the shield behind him and took the courage, and went where they sent him because they said this was his duty and he believed in duty..He took the gun and held it the way they had told him to hold it, and walked where they told him to walk, smiling a little and looking for another man to fight. He was shot and killed by the other man, who also believed in duty, and he was buried where he fell. It was so simple and so unimportant. But of course it meant something to Kibii and me, because the tall young man was Kibii's father and my most special friend. Arab Maina died on the field of action in the service of the King. But some said it was because he had forsaken his spear. .Beryl Markham
About This Quote
As a teenager, I grew up surrounded by friends who were very much involved in the war years. The war was fought mainly between England and Germany, but also included Great Britain’s colonies in parts of Africa. During these years, people whose lives were touched by the war often talked about what they thought was the greatest glory in living - rising every time one fell. The greatest glory is winning. The greatest glory is winning wars. The greatest glory is being number one. The greatest glory is being number one, or being king or queen or president or chief or dictator or dictator's wife. War is the greatest glory. War is the greatest glory because you can kill your enemy - if you are strong enough to kill him - and then he dies, dies for his country, dies for his family, dies for his friends, dies for himself because he cannot stand to be alive without you. War is all about violence and killing and revenge and hatred and greed and blood and death … but it is also all about glory! War is the ultimate great glory! War gives you all sorts of things; power, money, women, fame - everything! And it takes everything away from everyone else; people's lives are ruined; people die; people are hurt; people are badly treated; children are taken away from their parents because their parents are killed - all because of you! You win! You walk away with your trophy! You win! You won! You're number one! And you're better than everyone else because you're number one! You've got to enjoy yourself while you're winning - because winning only lasts as long as winning lasts ...
but if you don't enjoy yourself while you're winning ... nobody will enjoy themselves when they're losing ... so enjoy yourselves while you're winning ...
because if you don't, no one will enjoy themselves when they're losing ... so enjoy yourselves while you're winning ... I'm not saying that this means that war doesn't matter, or that killing isn't wrong - it's just that there's always someone worse off than us - worse off than me ...
so do your duty while there's still time for duty ... just don't wait until it's too late for duty! I'm not saying that this means that killing should be part of our everyday life - I'm just saying that a man has a duty to fight when called upon to fight by somebody stronger than he is … but a man has no
Source: West With The Night
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