“You had to trust the people you worked with completely or not at all, and you had to make decisions about the trusting.”
Ernest Hemingway
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Primary source)
Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, published in 1940, is a powerful and introspective novel set during the Spanish Civil War. The story follows Robert Jordan, an American volunteer fighting with the anti-fascist Republican forces. As a dynamiter assigned to blow up a bridge critical to an upcoming Republican offensive, Jordan’s mission becomes a lens through which Hemingway explores themes of duty, sacrifice, love, death, and the complex nature of war.
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“The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“Never to go on trips with anyone you do not love.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“Every day above earth is a good day.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary sourceMore quotes by Ernest Hemingway →
“This people must cease to hold slaves, and to make war on Mexico, though it cost them their existence as a people.”
— Henry David Thoreau Primary source“Everyone has the right to make his own decisions, but none has the right to force his decision on others.”
— Ayn Rand Disputed“If you know that this life is all that you have, wouldn’t you make the most of it?”
— Ayn Rand Disputed“Money and good manners make the gentleman.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source