1940s Quotes

“Wars are won in the mind before they can be won on the field.”
― Christopher Morley

“I feel like a nineteen forties teenager at a Frank Sinatra concert! (On finally being published)”
― Katrina "Adrian" Miller

“It was hard to live through the early 1940s in France and not have the war be the center from which the rest of your life spiraled.”
― Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See

“Music does something to people; it's unexplainable as the tunes wrap around the listeners and gathers them close together. The effect it has on people is almost magical.
Music brings us ever closer to the God Who created song, as if He is speaking to us in a universal language.”
― LaKaysha Stenersen, Echoes of Mercy

“Ashes, Nolan. You're covered in the ashes of burned bridges; because of things left unsaid. Or maybe the times someone said too much.”
― LaKaysha Stenersen, Echoes of Mercy

“I can laugh because I know my life is in His hands. I serve a living Savior, Who walks with me everyday.
Even after the pain of losing Tony, I came to realize--life is worth the living, because He is alive.”
― LaKaysha Stenersen, Echoes of Mercy

“Freedom is a sweet thing, and so many around the globe pray for a small taste of it. And those who have a steady diet often forget how precious liberty is.”
― LaKaysha Stenersen, Echoes of Mercy

“Maybe he was broken. Like a clock that always stops when it shouldn't, or a cracked teacup that spills anything poured inside.
Something was broken inside him, causing his gears to work incorrectly, and that's why he could never seem to do anything right. Useless. Garbage, to be thrown away.”
― LaKaysha Stenersen, Echoes of Mercy

“I Have Fought the Good Fight and Won”
― Carmen J Viglucci

“If we do not stop these mar-makers not,...it will soon be too late. We are the only nation that can halt this crusade. It might be too late in America, but it isn't too late here. Without British support the whole scheme would collapse. For that reason the future of all nations depends upon the policy which is decided in this House. More than that, the final position of Britain in the world is being decided. If we support these anti-Communist crusades through the world as we have supported it in Greece, then our good name and existence will be threatened by the hatred of all free-thinking men. We cannot suppress all desire in Europe and Asia for social change by branding it communism from Russia and persecuting its supporters. Social change doesn't have to come from Russia, whatever the Foreign Office or the Americans say. It is a product of the miserable conditions under which the majority of the earth's population exist. There are fighters for social change in every land, here as well as anywhere.... We Socialists are among them. That is the reason for our predominance in the House to-day. The very men that we try to suppress in other countries are asking for far less liberty than we enjoy here, far less social change than we Socialists hope to initiate in Great Britain. Are we going to betray these men by labelling them Communists and crushing them wherever we find them until we have launched ourselves at Russia herself in a war that will wipe this island off the face of the earth? The American imperialists say that this is the American Century. ARe we to sacrifice ourselves for that great ideal, or are we to stand beside the people of Europe and Asia and other lands who seek independence, economic stability, self-determination, and the right to conduct their own affairs? Are we going to partake in an anti-Red campaign when we ourselves are Reds?
......
Some among us might think that there is political expediency in following this anti-Russian crusade without really getting enmeshed in it, creating a Third Force in Europe of their friends, a balancing force for power politics. In that you have the real policy of our Government to-day. But how can we avoid final involvement? Our American vanguard will stop at nothing. They hold their atom bomb aloft with nervous fingers. It has become their talisman and their faith. It is their new weapon of anti-Communism, a more efficient Belsen and Maidenek. Its first usage was morally anti-Russian. It was used to end Japan quickly so that Russia would play no part in the final settlement with that country. No doubt they would have used it on Russia already if they could be certain that Russian did not have an equal or better atomic weapon. That terrible uncertainty goads them into fiercer political and economic activity against the world's grim defenders of great liberties. In that you have the heart of this American imperial desperation. They cannot defeat the people of Europe and Asia with the atomic bomb alone. They cannot win unless we lend them our name and our support and our political cunning. To-day they have British support, in policy as well as in international councils where the decisions of peace and security are being made. With our support America is undermining every international conference with its anti-Russian politics.”
― James Aldridge, The Diplomat

“And at this very moment, like a miracle, the rail-bus appeared. We waved our arms frantically, hardly daring to hope that it would stop. It did stop. We scrambled thankfully on board.
That is the irony of travel. You spend your boyhood dreaming of a magic, impossibly distant day when you will cross the Equator, when your eyes will behold Quito. And then, in the slow prosaic process of life, that day undramatically dawns—and finds you sleepy, hungry and dull. The Equator is just another valley; you aren’t sure which and you don’t much care. Quito is just another railroad station, with fuss about baggage and taxis and tips. And the only comforting reality, amidst all this picturesque noisy strangeness, is to find a clean pension run by Czech refugees and sit down in a cozy Central European parlor to a lunch of well-cooked Wiener Schnitzel.”
― Christopher Isherwood, The Condor And The Cows: A South American Travel Diary

“His deadpan expression turned bitter with a curl of his lip. “Save your sermon for some other sap. Nobody shares money—not even dead people. Why do you think they invented wills and trust funds?”
― Zita Steele, Ruthless Shadow

“Billie was hoping to get these two alive but was feeling rapidly less stuck on the idea.”
― Tara Moss, The War Widow

“I’ll find out whatever I can about this Frank. Would the girls go to the police if they were in danger, do you think?”

“I can’t say,” Shyla replied, but her head was shaking as she spoke. That was hardly a surprise. A lot of Aboriginal people were suspicious of the police, or gunjies, as Shyla sometimes called them. Through conversations with Shyla, Billie had some of the picture—how contacting the authorities about anything might lead to being arrested for something else, or having the men taken, or having the Aborigines Welfare Board take children away “for their own good.”

Stuff like that tended to ensure that trust was in short supply. That long and troubled history had not been forgotten and had created understandable tension between Aboriginal communities and the white authorities. That couldn’t simply vanish overnight.”
― Tara Moss, The War Widow

“And as for returning to work as a reporter—something she’d given considerable thought to before taking over her father’s inquiry agency—the Sydney newspapers had dismissed most of their women reporters home once the men started to return from the war, or else confined them to the social pages, or covering the Easter Show, which was a bit too steep a downgrade for Billie after she’d chased Nazi activity across Europe, built a good portfolio of published articles, and worked alongside the likes of Lee Miller and Clare Hollingworth.

No, she wouldn’t last in that kind of work. It was an imperfect world, and her chosen profession was decidedly imperfect, but for now she had a hint of that spark again, that sense of doing something that mattered to someone.”
― Tara Moss, The War Widow

“You came to France to find out about our methods, and you will have observed that we don't have any.”
― Georges Simenon, My Friend Maigret

“There won't be any revolution in America. The middle classes are too well-fed, the working class is too well-fooled into thinking it's the middle class, and the intellectuals are too damn tired.”
― Vance Bourjaily, The End of My Life

“Economic experts tell us that the women of America spend 80 per cent of the national income, and the largest part of this expenditure is made for the necessities and the small luxuries of life.”
― Judith C. Waller, Radio: The Fifth Estate

“Rick and Scotty, who had heard Australian slang before from Digger Sears, one-time mate of the Tarpon, broke into chuckles.

"I'd better translate," Scotty said, "'Lord stone the crows' is just an expression. Oscar Ashe is hard cash. Yakka is hard work. And dinkum oil is gospel truth.”
― John Blaine, The Phantom Shark

“In 2013 there were 7,427 poetry readings in April, many on a Thursday. For anyone born in 1928 who pays attention to poetry, the numerousness is astonishing. In April 1948, there were 15 readings in the United States, 12 by Robert Frost. So I claim. The figures are imaginary, but you get the point.”
― Donald Hall, Essays After Eighty

“Gory frontline memories from war in the Philippines returned to Mitch as he submerged himself in the brush. He sunk deep into the leaves and mud, and stayed there. He remembered scenes from the jungle. The tremors of falling bombs. The smell of smoke.”
― Zita Steele, Ruthless Shadow

“There was only so much he could stand being mad at her for. She was being a pain but he still liked her.”
― Rose Andrews, The Widow's Second Chance

“Lila was afraid of love. But she couldn't voice it. Instead, she continued smoking her cigarette, hand shaky, shoulders trembling, heartbeat soaring. Yet her voice was cool through her gift of acting. "I care about you, Kent.”
― Rose Andrews, Sweethearts And Jazz

“Making her debut in 1947, Black Canary was the archetype of the new Film Noir era heroine. Originally, Black Canary was a mysterious female vigilante, who played the role of criminal in order to infiltrate the underworld and bring its gangsters to justice. A gorgeous blonde in a low cut black swimsuit, bolero jacket and fishnet tights, Black Canary was actually Dinah Drake, a florist who wore her black hair tied in a bun, and sensible, high-necked blouses. When trouble brewed, Dinah slipped into her fishnets and pinned on a blonde wig to become the gutsy, karate chopping Black Canary. But Dinah had another incentive to lead a secret life. A roguishly handsome private detective named Larry Lance became a frequent customer in Dinah’s florist shop. He had a knack for getting into trouble, and Dinah would usually end up switching into her Black Canary guise to rescue him.”
― Mike Madrid, The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines

“Perhaps the suspicions stemmed from the distinct lack of women in Batman’s world. True, he crafted his Bruce Wayne alter ego to be an idle playboy, which meant there were a lot of beautiful women in his life. But, the most important female figure in his world seemed only to be his sainted, slain mother, to whose memory, along with that of his late father, Bruce swore to uphold justice and thwart evil. Bruce and Batman might have had romances with girls like debutante Julie Madison or reporter Vicki Vale, but showed neither any true affection. The one female who generated the most heat with Batman was the seductive, whip-wielding jewel thief Catwoman. Of course, since she was on the wrong side of the law, any chance of a romance with Batman was immediately crushed.
(...)
Batman’s sexy foe Catwoman was deemed too racy for the new world of the Comics Code. She was gone by 1954.”
― Mike Madrid, The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines

“This figure, which gave a clear meaning to the daily spectacle that everyone in town had in front of their eyes, disconcerted them even more. Up to then people had merely complaine about a rather disgusting accident. Now they saw that there was something threatening in this phenomenon, the extent and origin of which was not yet clear to them.”
― Camus Albert

“Läroverkslärare var på den tiden (*1940-talet) välavlönade. En adjunkt, som hade en magisterexamen, hade samma lön som en riksdagsman. I våra dagar är förhållandet helt annorlunda.”
― Lena Lundgren, Maria Lang : vår första deckardrottning

“it somehow felt dissociating. A world in which I did not belong to, or could never belong to. Parties, as if it was 1920, transpired days and nights, spent in the bliss of alcohol, self-indulgence, sex and drug abuse. As if we humans were whores addicted to the ignorance and bliss of nothingness that drugs, sex and alcohol brought about. A never-ending freedom in which we could always come back to if we needed to. Luxurious, the life of the rich.”
― W.M Angel, Atlas Loved

“Once war was over, everyone wanted to find some normality, to settle and fix their disordered homes. The reality, of course, was that it was impossible. Not with rationing and homes bombed and fathers not yet returned.”
― Lucy Ashe, The Sleeping Beauties