“I wish I could write well enough to write that story, he thought. What we did. Not what the others did to us.”
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“Never to go on trips with anyone you do not love.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary sourceMore quotes by Ernest Hemingway →
“Wish not so much to live long as to live well.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“We can do anything we want as long as we stick to it long enough.”
— Helen Keller Disputed“The proud hate pride—in others.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Time enough always proves little enough.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source