Said to author and critic André Maurois c. 1930, on the subject of the transformation of Germany.
Quoted in Maurois, The Art of Writing, “The Writer's Craft,” sct. 2 (1960).
Other works

“Of all the trees that grow so fair,
Old England to adorn,
Greater are none beneath the Sun,
Than Oak, and Ash, and Thorn.”

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Rudyard Kipling

A Tree Song,
Puck of Pook's Hill 1906

“For you all love the screw-guns the screw-guns they all love you!
So when we take tea with a few guns, o' course you will know what to do—hoo! hoo!
Jest send in your Chief an' surrender it's worse if you fights or you runs:
You may hide in the caves, they'll be only your graves, but you can't get away from the guns!”

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Rudyard Kipling libro Barrack-Room Ballads

Screw-Guns, Stanza 6.
Barrack-Room Ballads (1892, 1896)

“Now these are the Laws of the jungle, and many and mighty are they;
But the head and the hoof of the Law and the haunch and the hump is—Obey!”

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Rudyard Kipling libro Il secondo libro della giungla

The Law of the Jungle, Stanza 19.
The Second Jungle Book (1895)

“Four things greater than all things are,—
Women and Horses and Power and War.”

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Rudyard Kipling

The Ballad of the King's Jest, Stanza 4
Other works

“So I'll meet 'im later on
At the place where 'e is gone—
Where it's always double drill and no canteen.
'E'll be squattin' on the coals
Givin' drink to poor damned souls,
An' I'll get a swig in hell from Gunga Din!
Yes, Din! Din! Din!
You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!
Though I've belted you and flayed you,
By the livin' Gawd that made you,
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!”

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Rudyard Kipling libro Barrack-Room Ballads

Gunga Din, Stanza 5.
Barrack-Room Ballads (1892, 1896)

“When first under fire an' you're wishful to duck,
Don't look nor take 'eed at the man that is struck,
Be thankful you're livin', and trust to your luck
And march to your front like a soldier.
Front, front, front like a soldier…”

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Rudyard Kipling libro Barrack-Room Ballads

Young British Soldier, Stanza 9.
Barrack-Room Ballads (1892, 1896)

“Five and twenty ponies
Trotting through the dark—
Brandy for the Parson,
'Baccy for the Clerk.
Them that asks no questions isn't told a lie—
Watch the wall, my darling, while the gentlemen go by!”

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Rudyard Kipling

A Smuggler's Song.
Puck of Pook's Hill 1906

“Never praise a sister to a sister, in the hope of your compliments reaching the proper ears, and so preparing the way for you later on. Sisters are women first, and sisters afterwards; and you will find that you do yourself harm.”

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Rudyard Kipling libro Plain Tales from the Hills

False Dawn.
Plain Tales from the Hills (1888)

“When 'Omer smote 'is bloomin' lyre,
He'd 'eard men sing by land an' sea;
An' what he thought 'e might require,
'E went an' took—the same as me!”

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Rudyard Kipling

When 'Omer Smote 'is Bloomin' Lyre http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/K/KiplingRudyard/verse/volumeXI/omersmote.html, Stanza 1 (1894). <br class="br">Other works

“It was our fault, and our very great fault—and now we must turn it to use.
We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse.”

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Rudyard Kipling

The Lesson, Stanza 8 (1899-1902).
Other works

“For the colonel's lady an' Judy O'Grady,
Are sisters under their skins.”

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Rudyard Kipling libro Barrack-Room Ballads

The Ladies, Stanza VIII.
Barrack-Room Ballads (1892, 1896)

“If your officer's dead and the sergeants look white,
Remember it's ruin to run from a fight:
So take open order, lie down, and sit tight,
And wait for supports like a soldier.
Wait, wait, wait like a soldier…”

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Rudyard Kipling libro Barrack-Room Ballads

Young British Soldier, Stanza 12.
Barrack-Room Ballads (1892, 1896)