Paths of Glory quotes

View Quote Roget: I thought you'd been killed.
Paris: You didn't wait around to find out, did you Lieutenant?
Roget: Now look here, what do you mean?
Paris: I mean you ran like a rabbit after you killed Lejeune.
Roget: Killed Lejeune? What are you talking about? I don't think I like your tone. You're speaking to an officer, remember that.
Paris: Oh, well, I must be mistaken then, sir. An officer wouldn't do that. A man wouldn't do it. Only a thing would - a sneaky, booze-guzzling, yellow-bellied rat with a bottle for a brain and a streak of spit where his spine ought to be. You've got yourself into a mess, Lieutenant.
...
Roget: Have you ever tried to bring charges against an officer? It's my word against yours, you know, and whose word do you think they're gonna believe - or, let me put it another way, whose word do you think they're going to accept?

View Quote Saint-Auban: Did you advance?...How far did you advance?
Ferol: To about the middle of no man's land, sir.
Saint-Auban: Then what did you do?
Ferol: ...Well, I saw that me and Meyer, sir...
Saint-Auban: I didn't ask you what you saw. The court has no concern with your visual experiences...
Ferol: I went back, sir.
Saint-Auban: In other words, Private Ferol, you retreated.
Ferol: Yes, sir.

View Quote Saint-Auban: Did you urge your fellow soldiers forward?
Arnaud: Most of them were dead or wounded before they got three steps beyond the trenches.

View Quote Sergeant: There will be a lot of dignitaries, newspapermen out there. You've got a wife and family. How do you want to be remembered?...Many of us will be joining you before this war is over.
Paris: I don't want to die.

View Quote [about Rousseau] In cases like this, shells falling short, I-I always try to avoid an inquiry. It gets around among the men and makes a bad impression. Now, shelving will be the best discipline for him in my opinion.

View Quote [to Broulard] What would your, er, newspapers and your politicians do with that?...you are in a difficult position. Too much has happened. Someone's got to be hurt. The only question is who. General Mireau's assault on the Ant Hill failed. His order to fire on his own troops was refused. But his attempt to murder three innocent men to protect his own reputation will be prevented by the General's staff.

View Quote [to Broulard] You're making me the goat. The only completely innocent man in this whole affair. I have only one last thing to say to you, George. The man you stabbed in the back is a soldier.

View Quote [to Dax, about Mireau] Well, it had to be done. France cannot afford to have fools guiding her military destiny.

View Quote Get off this fancy talk with me, do you understand? General Broulard seemed to think you were funny. I don't. I want you to drop this affair...Colonel Dax, when this mess is cleaned up, I'll break you...I'll ruin you. And it'll be just what you deserve, showing such little loyalty to your commanding officer.

View Quote Hello there soldier, ready to kill more Germans?

View Quote If any soldiers in the world can take it, we'll take the Ant Hill.

View Quote If those little sweethearts won't face German bullets, they'll face French ones!

View Quote It's out of the question, George. Absolutely out of the question. My division was cut to pieces. What's left of it is in no position to even hold the Ant Hill, let alone take it. I'm sorry, but that's the truth.

View Quote Looking over your rifle, I see? Well, that's the way. It's a soldier's best friend. You be good to it and it will always be good to you.

View Quote Maybe the attack against the Ant Hill was impossible. Perhaps it was an error of judgment on our part. On the other hand, if your men had been a little more daring, you might have taken it. Who knows? Why should we have to bear more criticism and failure than we have to?...These executions will be a perfect tonic for the entire division. There are few things more fundamentally encouraging and stimulating than seeing someone else die...You see, Colonel, troops are like children. Just as a child wants his father to be firm, troops crave discipline. And one way to maintain discipline is to shoot a man now and then.