“I am like a snake who has already bitten. I retreat from a direct battle while knowing the slow effect of the poison.”

“I do not remember being bitten. I wish I did, for then I would know the creature who did this to me and I would have a purpose, to track him down and repay him for the poisoned gift he gave me.”

“Great,' I said. 'Visit exotic Australia. Get bitten by an exotic snake. Die exotically.”

“I shaved this morning for precisely that reason. I was like, 'Well, you never know when someone is going to clamp down on your calf and try to suck out the snake poison.”

“At the beginning of a campaign it is important to consider whether or not to move forward; but when one has taken the offensive it is necessary to maintain it to the last extremity. However skilfully effected a retreat may be, it always lessens the morale of an army, since in losing the chances of success, they are remitted to the enemy. A retreat, moreover, costs much more in men and materials than the bloodiest engagements, with this difference, also, that in a battle the enemy loses practically as much as you do; while in a retreat you lose and he does not.”

“Here I am, saving your lives, bitten and scarred and wounded for you, and you don't even know it.”