Quotes from The Red Badge of Courage

“It was not well to drive men into final corners; at those moments they could all develop teeth and claws.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“Over the river a golden ray of sun came through the hosts of leaden rain clouds.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“He vaguely desired to walk around and around the body and stare; the impulse of the living to try to read in dead eyes the answer to the Question.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“But he said, in substance, to himself that if the earth and moon were about to clash, many persons would doubtless plan to get upon the roofs to witness the collision.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“So it came to pass that as he trudged from the place of blood and wrath his soul changed.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“They were going to look at war, the red
animal--war, the blood-swollen god.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“A man with a full stomach and the respect of his fellows had no business to scold about anything that he might think to be wrong in the ways of the universe, or even with the ways of society. Let the unfortunates rail; the others may play marbles.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“The moon had been lighted and was hung in a treetop.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“The lieutenant, returning from a tour after a bandage, produced from a hidden receptacle of his mind new and portentous oaths suited to the emergency. Strings of expletives he swung lashlike over the backs of his men, and it was evident that his previous efforts had in nowise impaired his resources.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“He turned now with a lover's thirst to images of tranquil skies, fresh meadows, cool brooks— an existence of soft and eternal peace.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“It appeared that the swift wings of their desires would have shattered against the iron gates of the impossible.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“They would jeer him, and, if practicable, pelt him with missiles.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“Once he thought he had concluded that it would be better to get killed directly and end his troubles. Regarding death thus out of the corner of his eye, he conceived it to be nothing but rest, and he was filled with a momentary astonishment that he should have made an extraordinary commotion over the mere matter of getting killed.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“This landscape gave him assurance. A fair field holding life. It was the religion of peace. It would die if its timid eyes were compelled to see blood. He conceived Nature to be a woman with a deep aversion to tragedy.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“Camp fires, like red, peculiar blossoms, dotted the night.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“But he instantly saw that it would be impossible for him to escape from the regiment. It inclosed him. And there were iron laws of tradition and law on four sides. He was in a moving box”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“The slaves toiling in the temple of this god began to feel rebellion at his harsh tasks.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“He had been a mere man railing at a condition, but now he was out of it and could see that it had been very proper and just. It had been necessary for him to swallow swords that he might have a better throat for grapes.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“He did not consider public opinion to be accurate at long range.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“He occasionally tried to fathom a comrade with seductive sentences. He looked about to find men in the proper mood. All attempts failed to bring forth any statement which looked in any way like a confession to those doubts which he privately acknowledged in himself. He was afraid to make an open declaration of his concern, because he dreaded to place some unscrupulous confidant upon the high plane of the unconfessed from which elevation he could be derided.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“Through his suffering, he peers into the core of things and sees that the judgment of man is thistle-down in the wind.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“The general, whom the boys knew as the commander of their division, looked at the other officer and spoke coolly, as if he were criticising his clothes. "Th' enemy's formin' over there for another charge," he said. "It'll be directed against Whiterside, an' I fear they'll break through there unless we work like thunder t' stop them." The other swore at his restive horse, and then cleared his throat. He made a gesture toward his cap. "It'll be hell t' pay stoppin' them," he said shortly. "I presume so," remarked the general. Then he began to talk rapidly and in a lower tone. He frequently illustrated his words with a pointing finger. The two infantrymen could hear nothing until finally he asked: "What troops can you spare?" The officer who rode like a cowboy reflected for an instant. "Well," he said, "I had to order in th' 12th to help th' 76th, an' I haven't really got any. But there's th' 304th. They fight like a lot 'a mule drivers. I can spare them best of any." The youth and his friend exchanged glances of astonishment. The general spoke sharply. "Get 'em ready, then. I'll watch developments from here, an' send you word when t' start them. It'll happen in five minutes." As the other officer tossed his fingers toward his cap and wheeling his horse, started away, the general called out to him in a sober voice: "I don't believe many of your mule drivers will get back." The other shouted something in reply. He smiled. With scared faces, the youth and his companion hurried back to the line. These happenings had occupied an incredibly short time, yet the youth felt that in them he had been made aged. New eyes were given to him. And the most startling thing was to learn suddenly that he was very insignificant. The officer spoke of the regiment as if he referred to a broom. Some part of the woods needed sweeping, perhaps, and he merely indicated a broom in a tone properly indifferent to its fate. It was war, no doubt, but it appeared strange.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“He had been out among the dragons, he said, and he assured himself that they were not so hideous as he had imagined them. Also,”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“He saw that to be firm soldiers they must go forward.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“Since he had turned his back upon the fight his fears had been wondrously magnified. Death about to thrust him between the shoulder blades was far more dreadful than death about to smite him between the eyes. When he thought of it later, he conceived the impression that it is better to view the appalling than to be merely within hearing.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

“His face had been twisted into an expression of every agony he had imagined for his friend.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from The Red Badge of Courage

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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

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