C.S. Forester

“Clairvoyant, Hornblower could foresee that in a year's time, the world would hardy remember the incident. In twenty years, it would be entirely forgotten. Yet those headless corpses up there in Muzillac; those shattered redcoats; those Frenchmen caught in the four-pounder's blast of canister -- they were as dead as if it had been a day in which history had been changed.”

“I thank God daily for the good fortune of my birth, for I am certain I would have made a miserable peasant.”

“His self-respect was at its lowest ebb.”

“I did not ask for objections, but for comments, or helpful suggestions. I looked for more loyalty from you, Captain Hornblower.'That made the whole argument pointless. If Leighton only wanted servile agreement there was no sense in continuing...”

“When a man who is drinking neat gin starts talking about his mother he is past all argument.”