"The idea of the mercenary springs from the same mentality as the one expressed by the two Chinese watching a couple of Europeans playing tennis under the hot sun of Shanghai. As they seemed rather exhausted, one of the sons of the Celestial Empire remarked to the other: "It's odd. This club has only well-to-do members. They easily could afford coolies to play in their stead." Yet the institution of mercenary armies still did not mark the nadir of war methods in Europe. It was at least not a return to the laws of the jungle, of primitive tribes, where every male capable of bearing arms has to join in. The officers had still the background of warriors; they were frequently second or third sons of noble families out for adventures, but nevertheless educated in the habits of chivalry. The average mercenary, on the other hand, was usually a ne'er-do-well, maybe the son of the henchman; he belonged to the scum of the cities or the village and he was often nothing else than a courageous jailbird."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mercenary
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Mercenary
23 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Mercenary →
Related Quotes
"They go by many names- mercenaries, soldiers of fortune, wild geese, hired guns, legionnaires, contract killers, hire…"
"The need for soldiers of fortune has and will change little. Their organization into corporate-owned private military…"
"Today, 75 percent of U.S. forces in Afghanistan are contracted. Only about 10 percent of these contractors are armed,…"
"Mercenaries?" I ventured. "Agh! Mercenaries!" Bob exclaimed, like I had stabbed him. "Now that's the worst thing you …"
"Most of those fighting for the United States abroad aren’t even Americans. Private military companies are multination…"
"Many of the larger private military companies also hire local “subs” or sub-contractors, often invisible to U.S. gove…"
"Giving birth to such markets is just one of the many ways that contractors encourage dangerous policymaking. Unlike t…"
"Contractors, then, allow policymakers to wage war outside of the public eye. Their deaths rarely attract headlines th…"
"No international laws exist to regulate the mercenary industry. What we’re left with: If anyone with enough money can…"
"Today, more contractors are killed in combat than soldiers—a stunning turnaround from the start of the wars Iraq and …"