Ambition may be defined as the willingness to receive any number of hits on the nose.

And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall, By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-- My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

Children are not meant to be studied, but enjoyed. Only by studying to be pleased do we understand them.

These men are worth your tears. You are not worth their merriment.

Was it for this the clay grew tall?

As bronze may be much beautified by lying in the dark damp soil, so men who fade in dust of warfare fade fairer, and sorrow blooms their soul.