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Quote of the Day: Living and Dying
“Dyin’ ain’t much of a living, boy.” — Josey Wales
You know the scene. Clint Eastwood’s Josey Wales is being chased by the entire Union Army and every bounty hunter in Texas:
This is the thinking of a soldier or a warrior and, make no mistake about it, even though his unit may well have been the most irregular outfit in the whole war, a soldier and warrior is just what he is. So much so that regardless of whether the war has ended, he will continue to fight.
But the first job of a soldier is to stay alive. George C. Scott gave us the unforgettable rendition of George S. Patton’s immortal words on why:
In the end, the reality is simple: you can’t fight if you’re dead. Josey Wales can’t fight if he’s dead. And he’s a warrior with a war left to fight, so walk away or die.
I find The Outlaw Josey Wales to be filled with great lines that contain a deeper meaning. I can’t exactly call the movie quotable because most of these lines aren’t easy to work into conversation. Today and tomorrow, I’ll highlight some of them.
Published in General
One of my favorite movies. I won’t steal your thunder by posting some of my favorite lines.
I’ll have to watch this. I’m a big Clint Eastwood fan, and somehow missed this one. Thanks.
You can’t fight if you‘re dead..
Does this refer to the current division within the conservative side vis-a-vis supporting our President?
No, not at all. Just the same as Patton said. You don’t win by dying, you win by killing the other guy.
It’s his best if you ask me. A few weeks ago, I was trying to come up with a QOTD and I turned to Outlaw Josie Wales because of all the great lines, including this one. But then decided it wasn’t really an appropriate quote for Christmas week.
Hell’s coming to breakfast.
When I told Arahant I thought I could do as many as 6 days, that was number four.
Duplicate comment.
Sorry, thought it was more obsucre, I’ll shut up now.
Endeavor to persevere…
His follow up story on that could be a post all it’s own.
That is my favorite line. I use it all the time.
Well, we’ll see what is left for Judge to post tomorrow after we spoil it all in today’s thread.
This conversation is our Quote of the Day, part of an ongoing series created, coördinated, and written by our members. If you are a member of Ricochet and can think of a quotation you would like to share, you can sign up here to pick a day. We still have five openings in January. If you are not a member of Ricochet, what are you waiting for. Go join now.
One of our favorite movies, too. Thanks for reminding me.
I really wanted to do that Patton address for the speech contest in junior high.
Decided it would lose too much if I had to clean it up to meet PTA standards.
Ditto
“We thought about it for a long time, ‘Endeavor to persevere.’ And when we had thought about it long enough, we declared war on the Union.”
It’s not for eating, just looking at.
Truly the only movie Sondra Locke didn’t ruin by her very presence.
Perhaps my favorite movie of my youth.
Ha! I remember my dad telling me that Josey Wales was in his personal Top 10 Westerns list “in spite of the fact that that chick I can’t stand is in it.”
Since the topic is livin’ and dying, it’s better to die for something than live for nothing.