Paths of Glory describes the effects of war on human life.
1- “There are few things more fundamentally stimulating that watching another man die.” –General Broulard, ‘Paths of Glory’.
2- “Too much has happened. Someone’s got to be hurt. The only question is who. General Mireau’s assault on the Ant Hill failed. His order to fire on his own troops was refused. But his attempt to murder three innocent men to protect his own reputation will be prevented by the General’s staff. ” –Colonel Dax, ‘Paths of Glory’.
3- “If those sweethearts won’t face German bullets, they’ll take French ones!” – General Mireau, ‘Paths of Glory’.
4- “Gentlemen of the court, there are times that I’m ashamed to be a member of the human race and this is one such occasion.” –Col. Dax, Gen. George Broulard, ‘Paths of Glory’.
5- Saint-Auban: Did you urge your fellow soldiers forward?
Arnaud: Most of them were dead or wounded before they got three steps beyond the trenches. –‘Paths of Glory’.
6- General Broulard: Colonel Dax, are you trying to blackmail me?
Colonel Dax: It’s an ugly word, but you are in a difficult situation. –‘Paths of Glory’.
7- General Broulard: Colonel Dax! You will apologize at once or I shall have you placed under arrest!
Colonel Dax: I apologize… for not being entirely honest with you. I apologize for not revealing my true feelings. I apologize, sir, for not telling you sooner that you’re a degenerate, sadistic old man. And you can go to hell before I apologize to you now or ever again! –‘Paths of Glory’.
8- Mireau: I’m awfully glad you could be there, George. This sort of thing is always rather grim but this one had a kind of splendor to it, don’t you think?
Broulard: I have never seen an affair of this sort handled any better.
Mireau: The men died wonderfully! There’s always that chance that one of them will do something that will leave everyone with a bad taste. This time, you couldn’t ask for better. –‘Paths of Glory’.
9- Corporal Paris: See that cockroach? Tomorrow morning, we’ll be dead and it’ll be alive. It’ll have more contact with my wife and child than I will. I’ll be nothing, and it’ll be alive.
Private Ferol: Now you got the edge on him. –‘Paths of Glory’.
10- Sergeant: There will be a lot of dignitaries, newspapermen out there. You’ve got a wife and family. How do you want to be remembered?…Many of us will be joining you before this war is over.
Paris: I don’t want to die. –‘Paths of Glory’.
11- General Mireau: I can’t understand these armchair officers, fellas trying to fight a war from behind a desk, waving papers at the enemy, worrying about whether a mouse is gonna run up their pants leg.
Colonel Dax: I don’t know, General. If I had the choice between mice and Mausers, I think I’d take the mice every time. –‘Paths of Glory’.
12- General Broulard: Colonel Dax, you’re a disappointment to me. You’ve spoiled the keenness of your mind by wallowing in sentimentality. You really did want to save those men, and you were not angling for Mireau’s command. You are an idealist – and I pity you as I would the village idiot. We’re fighting a war, Dax, a war that we’ve got to win. Those men didn’t fight, so they were shot. You bring charges against General Mireau, so I insist that he answer them. Wherein have I done wrong?
Colonel Dax: Because you don’t know the answer to that question, I pity you. –‘Paths of Glory’.
13- Dax: They’re not cowards, so if some of them didn’t leave the trenches, it must have been because it was impossible.
Mireau: They were ordered to attack. It was their duty to obey that order. We can’t leave it up to the men to decide when an order is possible or not. If it was impossible, the only proof of that would be their dead bodies lying in the bottom of the trenches. They are scum, Colonel, the whole rotten regiment; a pack of sneaking, whining, tail-dragging curs.
Dax: Do you really believe that, sir?
Mireau: Yes, I do. That’s exactly what I believe. And what’s more, it’s an incontestable fact.
Dax: Then why not shoot the entire regiment? I’m perfectly serious…If it’s an example you want, then take me…One man will do as well as a hundred. The logical choice is the officer most responsible for the attack. –‘Paths of Glory’.
14- Priest: Have faith in your Creator – Death comes to us all.
Arnaud: That’s really deep! Death comes to us all. [holds up his whiskey bottle] This is my religion. –‘Paths of Glory’.
15- Mireau: [ordering artillery fire on his own men] The troops are mutinying, refusing to advance!
[Rousseau refuses the order twice, before demanding to see it in writing]Rousseau: Supposing you’re killed. Then where will I be?
Mireau: You’ll be in front of a firing squad tomorrow morning, that’s where you’ll be. Hand over your command and report yourself under arrest to my headquarters. –‘Paths of Glory’.
16- Roget: I thought you’d been killed.
Paris: You didn’t wait around to find out, did you Lieutenant?
Roget: Now look here, what do you mean?
Paris: I mean you ran like a rabbit after you killed Lejeune.
Roget: Killed Lejeune? What are you talking about? I don’t think I like your tone. You’re speaking to an officer, remember that.
Paris: Oh, well, I must be mistaken then, sir. An officer wouldn’t do that. A man wouldn’t do it. Only a thing would – a sneaky, booze-guzzling, yellow-bellied rat with a bottle for a brain and a streak of spit where his spine ought to be. You’ve got yourself into a mess, Lieutenant.
…
Roget: Have you ever tried to bring charges against an officer? It’s my word against yours, you know, and whose word do you think they’re going to believe – or, let me put it another way, whose word do you think they’re going to accept? –‘Paths of Glory’.
17- Dax: Why didn’t you leave the trenches?
Paris: Major Vignon was shot, and he fell back on top of me, sir, and knocked me cold.
Dax: And were you lying unconscious in the trenches during the entire attack?
Paris: Yes, sir.
Judge: Have you any witnesses to that?
Paris: No, sir. I guess everybody was too busy to notice me. There were so many others lying dead anyway.
Judge: But you have no witnesses?
Paris: No, sir. I only have a rather large cut on my head, sir.
Judge: That could have been self-inflicted later. –‘Paths of Glory’.
18- Mireau: There is no such thing as shell shock!
Soldier: Yes, I have a wife…I’m never going to see her again. I’m going to be killed.
[Mireau slaps the soldier]Mireau: Sergeant, I want you to arrange for the immediate transfer of this baby out of my regiment. I won’t have any of our brave men contaminated by him. ‘Paths of Glory’.
18- Mireau: I am responsible for the lives of 8,000 men. What is my ambition against that? What is my reputation in comparison to that? My men come first of all, George. And those men know it, too.
Broulard: I know that they do.
Mireau: You see, George, those men know that I would never let them down.
Broulard: That goes without saying.
Mireau: The life of one of those soldiers means more to me than all the stars and decorations and honors in France. –‘Paths of Glory’.
19- Saint-Auban: How far did you advance?
Private Ferol: To about the middle of no man’s land, sir.
Saint-Auban: Then what did you do?
Private Ferol: …Well, I saw that me and Meyer, sir…
Saint-Auban: I didn’t ask you what you saw. The court has no concern with your visual experiences.
Private Ferol: I went back, sir.
Saint-Auban: In other words, Private Ferol, you retreated.
Private Ferol: Yes, sir. –‘Paths of Glory’.
20- Dax: Let me get this straight, sir. You’re offering me General Mireau’s command?
Broulard: Come, come, Colonel Dax. Don’t overdo the surprise. You’ve been after the job from the start. We all know that, my boy!
Dax: I may be many things, sir. But I am not your boy.
Broulard: Well, I certainly didn’t mean to imply any biological relationship.
Dax: I’m not your boy in any sense.
Broulard: Are you trying to provoke me colonel?
Dax: Why should I want to do that?
Broulard: Exactly. It would be a pity to lose your promotion before you get it – a promotion you have so very carefully planned for.
Colonel Dax: Sir, would you like me to suggest what you can do with that promotion?
Broulard: Colonel Dax, you will apologize at once or you shall be placed under arrest!
Dax: I apologize for not being entirely honest with you. I apologize for not revealing my true feelings. I apologize, sir, for not telling you sooner that you’re a degenerate, sadistic old man. AND YOU CAN GO TO HELL BEFORE I APOLOGIZE TO YOU NOW OR EVER AGAIN!
Broulard: Colonel Dax, you’re a disappointment to me. You’ve spoiled the keenness of your mind by wallowing in sentimentality. You really did want to save those men, and you were not angling for Mireau’s command. You are an idealist – and I pity you as I would the village idiot. We’re fighting a war, Dax, a war that we’ve got to win. Those men didn’t fight, so they were shot. You bring charges against General Mireau, so I insist that he answer them. Wherein have I done wrong?
Dax: Because you don’t know the answer to that question, I pity you. –‘Paths of Glory’.
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