"He’d always been glad he wasn’t an infantryman: if you were a mudfoot, war, and the death and the maiming that went with war, were random and impersonal. What had he just been doing but dealing out random, impersonal death? He thought of himself as a knight in shining armor. What sorts of filthy things had knights done that never got into the pages of Malory and Ivanhoe? He didn’t know. He didn’t want to find out, not really. He looked down at himself. His imaginary suit of armor seemed to have a patch or two of rust on it. No matter who you were or what you did, you couldn’t stay immaculate, not in this war."

"At sixteen, you knew you could do the impossible. At forty-three, you knew damn well you couldn’t."

"“What is the younger generation coming to?” she exclaimed: the cry of the older generation throughout recorded history."

"What should matter and what does matter, monsieur, are not one and the same thing, I regret to say."

"Whenever you throw away what’s right for what’s convenient, you end up losing both."

"“Putting the best face on things doesn’t make them right,” Flora said with a stern rectitude of a temperance crusader smashing a bottle of whiskey against a saloon wall."

"He was a pretty fair officer, no doubt about it, but he wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. Of course, when you got right down to it, who was?"

"The ability to see what is, sir, is essential for the leader of a great nation."

"“You notice he does not do anything about it. The first amendment to the Constitution protects our right to speak freely.” He let out a chuckle the wind flung away. “The first amendment also protects his right to speak freely, however distasteful I find his opinion.”"

"An idea may be a good one no matter who propounds it."

"Radicals hire bomb-throwing maniacs. Rich men hire lawyers. They’re more expensive, but they ought to be, because they do more damage."

"But, aside from that grumbling, without which they would hardly have been soldiers, they went where they were ordered."

"“Won’t it be fine, getting to spend Christmas somewhere near the edge of civilization?” “Yes, sir,” his aide-de-camp agreed enthusiastically. “If El Paso isn’t civilization, at least it’s on the railroad line to it.”"

"“You’re a Democrat, aren’t you general?” somebody asked. “What sensible man isn’t?” Custer returned."

"Anxious, he asked, “My dear, how are you?” “As the good Lord meant me to be,” she answered, to which he found no response. She went on, “Pretty soon I’ll see Him face-to-face, and I intend to have a good long talk with Him about the way things do go on in this here world.” “Good,” Douglass said. “I’m sure He could have made a much better job of things had He had you to advise Him.”"

"Longstreet, as far as Jackson was concerned, made a better politician than a soldier; he was full of the deviousness politics required."

"Courage and the goodness of one’s cause, unfortunately, do not always go hand in hand."

"When was the last time you heard a Republican speak up for a fair shake for the working man or for justice and equality for all men? Those are the ideals we espoused when we were young. Have they changed from boons to evils as we grew old?"

"Impasse. Stuart hated impasses. He hated ambiguity of any kind. The older he got, the more ambiguity he saw in the world. He hated that, too."

"“You done opened my eyes, and I reckon I can go and open some other folks’ eyes my own self. You got yourself a—what’s the Bible word?—A disciple, that’s what it is.” “Good luck to you, Mr. Blackford,” Lincoln said. “Be the truth’s disciple, not mine. Follow the truth, wherever it may lead you.”"

"“Give me two synonyms for ‘idiots,’” Clemens said, and then gave them himself: “‘Fools’ and ‘Republicans.’”"

"We must deal with life as it is, not with life as we wish it were or as it may be ten years or fifty years from now."

"Martyrdom was easier to contemplate in the abstract than to embrace in the flesh."

"Apart from the Volunteer companies, a lot of men in San Francisco carried guns for self-protection—not least, for protection from other men carrying guns."

"An army that was winning had little backbiting. When things went wrong, everyone was at pains to prove the misfortune could not possibly have been his fault."

"The worst revolutionaries today are those reactionaries who do not see and will not admit that there is any need for change."

"We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some, the word means for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and with the product of his labor. With others, the same word means for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men’s labor. The fullness of time, I am convinced, will prove to the world which is the true definition of the word, and my earnest hope remains that the United States of America show yet lead the way in the proving."

"“Why do we have such a pack of confounded dunderheads running this country?” “My theory used to be that we get the government we deserve,” Sam said. “Bad as we are, though, I don’t think we’re that bad. Right now, I’m taking a long look at the notion that God hates us.”"

"“What’s the war news?” “They’re killing people,” Sam said, and let it go at that."

"Every so often, though, the passing years up and ambushed him. They had more skill at it than any Yankees. One day, they would shoot him down from ambush, too."

"“You wouldn’t bring me fifty dollars. You’re too damn old and too damn uppity.” “I can’t help being old, and I am proud to be uppity,” Douglass said."

"War was rapidly doing what war did—making ugly everything it touched."

"“Oh, they are great ones for taking a high moral tone, the Confederate States,” Douglass said. “Taking a high moral tone costs them nothing. Living up to it is something else again.”"

"Then he laughed at himself. If Fort Benton counted for civilization, he’d been out in the wilderness too long."

"He knew what he imagined and what was real were not one and the same. Knowing it and coming to terms with it were not one and the same, either."

"Blaine hated the Confederate States because they were a rival, not because they were tyrants. Had they been exemplars of purest democracy, rivals they would have remained, and he would have hated them no less."

"He rode forward at the gallop, brave but stupid. A moment later, he was brave and stupid and dead."

"“So this is the famous George Cannon of whom you telegraphed me, is it? He doesn’t look so much like a wild-eyed fanatic as some of the ones we snared before.” “No, sir,” Custer agreed: close enough for his superiors to hear him, he made a point of agreeing with them. “But without their coldhearted, coolheaded comrades egging them on, the wild-eyed fanatics could not do so much damage.”"

"“I see that this photograph shows me you have been imperfectly truthful here,” he told them, having been too well brought up to call a woman a liar to her face."

"The Mormons habitually dissembled about their plural marriages."

"Custer paused and sent Tom a quizzical look. “‘Scoops’? What’s a scoop?” “A Mormon. Heard it the other day,” his brother answered. After removing his hat, Tom mimed removing the top of his skull in the same way and scooping out a large portion of its contents. “Have to have most of your brain missing to buy what they’re selling, don’t you think?” “Mm, you’re likely right.”"

"War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it. Its glory is all moonshine."

"“So you’re one of the ones who still say ‘if there be,’ are you, Three-Card? I know the fancy grammarians like it better, but ‘if there are’ has always been good enough for me.” “I’m an old man.” Jesperson ran a pudgy finger along the gray walrus mustache he wore. “The things the modern generation does to the English language are a shame and a disgrace, nothing less.”"

"But, at the moment, the urge to write was not upon him. He shook his head and grimaced wryly. As a veteran newspaper man, he knew you wrote when you had to write, not when the Muse sprinkled fairy dust in your hair and tapped you with a magic wand."

"Like South Carolina, Utah is too large to be an insane asylum and too small to make a nation, and, unlike South Carolina, lacks other nearby states full of zanies to join her in her madness."

"No one argued with him, which was a pleasant novelty."

"He realized, belatedly, that he had been less than diplomatic. That did not bother him, either: he was less than diplomatic."

"“How many Mormons are polygamists, truly?” Lincoln asked. “They write all sorts of things in the eastern papers.” “They say all sorts of things here, too,” Hamilton answered. “The truth is devilish hard to find, and they don’t keep any public records of marriages past the first, which makes it harder yet. I’d say it’s about one in ten, if that, but the polygamists have influence beyond their numbers. If you’re going to support more than one wife and family, you need more than the common run of money, you see.” “Oh, yes,” Lincoln said. “A case similar to that of slaveholders in the Confederate States.”"