Dead Wake: The Last Crossing Of The Lusitania Quotes
"The whole thing is very vivid in my mind, painfully vivid."
"I have to force myself not to dwell upon it to avoid the sort of numbness that comes from deep apprehension."
"The essence of war is violence, and moderation in war is imbecility."
"It’s incredible—incredible that such a thing could happen."
"We must be impartial in thought as well as in action."
"I do not like this case. It is full of disturbing possibilities."
"Perhaps it is not necessary to make formal representations in the matter at all."
"We considered the passenger steamers immune from submarine attack."
"The public is making such ridiculous demands for elaborate entertainment."
"These pistols are terrible things. They go off by themselves."
"I felt like a machine that had run down, and there was nothing in him worth while."
"I feel the burden of the thing almost intolerably from day to day."
"The truth is that the Lusitania is the safest boat on the sea."
"I think I speak for all the crew if I say we all had the utmost confidence in Captain Turner."
"Certainly not; 20 knots through ice! My conscience!"
"No more effect than a blister on a wooden leg."
"Certainly not; might as well give them soda water bottles."
"Not the slightest," Turner said. "It will happen again."
"No, as long as they float; if they sink, I get out."
"Who told you that?" Turner snapped. "Nobody I ever went to sea with proved it."
"My dear sir, I don’t know anything at all about it."
"I could not endure the spectacle any longer."
"He was the soul of kindness toward the officers and men under him."
"It was the best of jobs and we were a happy band in those days."
"Only the one who is at the periscope with one eye has the whole responsibility."
"They got electrocuted of course, that was our pastime."
"The first breath of fresh air, the open conning-tower hatch and the springing into life of the Diesels, after fifteen hours on the bottom, is an experience to be lived through."
"I have wrung my soul dry over father’s house."
"There is nothing like the diversion of travel for one who is mentally fagged."
"The scratches on the steel walls, the corpses’ torn finger-nails, the blood-stains on their clothes and on the walls, bore all too dreadful witness."
"The idea of canceling never entered his mind."
"I covet nothing more than to give you pleasure,—you have given me so much!"
"Such a pledge of friendship blots out the shadows that have chased me today."
"The blind moment, that dismayingly long interval just before the periscope broke the surface."
"I truly believe there was no one on the ship who valued life as little as I do."
"War experience has shown that fast steamers can considerably reduce the chance of successful surprise submarine attack by zigzagging."
"The blowing up of a liner with American passengers may be the prelude."
"If a British liner full of Americans be blown up, what will Uncle Sam do? What’s going to happen?"
"He kept us in good spirits relating different experiences he had during his travels and was very nice to everybody."
"I appreciated his efforts as I was very sick during the whole journey, and [he] was especially nice to me."
"They were great friends at the dining table."
"There were so many on the ship that it really was like living in a town."
"It was a mark of Prichard’s popularity that so many casual acquaintances remembered him at all."
"For our part, we want the traffic—the more the better; and if some of it gets into trouble, better still."
"I saw them trying to throw out the boats, trying to break away the boats from the davits, and it seemed to me that they were not equal to it."
"The view was grand, the sun shining, the water smooth and land visible on either side."
"I thought to myself that if a German submarine really meant business, she would have to wait weeks for a more ideal chance than the present weather conditions."
"After I was through swearing, I noticed that the fog was lifting. Presently I could see blue sky."
"It was a beautiful day then, light wind, a smooth sea, and bright sunshine."
"A lovelier day cannot be imagined—the air was warm, no wind, bright sun, smooth sea."
"The situation is curious—two very strong and clever men, one old, wily and of vast experience, one young, self-assertive, with a great self-satisfaction but unstable."
"I instructed the steward that if he didn’t hear from me by 12 o’clock he was to call me, as that would give me ample time to get ready for lunch at one."
"Together England and Germany are likely to drive us crazy, because it looks oftentimes as if they were crazy themselves, the unnecessary provocations they invent."
"The sea was calm, fortunately for us, because a very little would have washed us off. We were better off than the people floating on planks in the water or kept up by their lifebelts."
"We walked close together, side by side, each with an arm around the other’s waist."
"The sudden list of the ship threw her from one side of the stairwell to the other."
"Never have I heard a more distressing cry of despair than when I tried to tell one of them that that was what we were doing."
"I wondered, looking round on the sun and pale blue sky and calm sea, whether I had reached heaven without knowing it."
"It was a beautiful sunset, and all so calm and peaceful."
"The ship continued to move; its stern rose higher. His mother held him close. And then the sea seemed to leap forward, and his mother was gone."
"The smoothness of the sea presented some passengers with a view of the torpedo that was startling in its clarity."
"As I hit the water, and it is strange what one thinks about in times of stress, I suddenly remembered that my brother had never been able to swim."
"I thought about how wondrously beautiful the sunlight and water were from below the surface."
"If I pondered over those tragic items that daily appear in the newspapers about the Lusitania, I should see red in everything and I am afraid that when I am called upon to act with reference to this situation I could not be just to anyone."
"There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight. There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right."
"To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured."
"We must go through with it. I hope and believe that the President will see it in this light."
"I would go to sea on a barge if necessary to get afloat again, as I was tired of being idle and on shore while everyone else was away at sea."
"I grieve for all the poor innocent people that lost their lives and for those that are left to mourn their dear ones lost."
"He was far too strong a character to brood over a matter that was beyond rectification."
"Merriment and humor were always prominently observable in his company."
"He died as he had lived, full of courage and spirit and without complaint."
"I am satisfied that every precaution was taken, and that nothing was left undone that might have helped to save human lives that day."
"All the young are in the net, anyone who tried to keep out of being a Nazi is hazed till they change their mind."
"When I was lying back in that sunlit water I was, and I knew it, very near to death."
"Rather, somehow, one had a protected feeling, as if it were a kindly thing."
"A new confidence. If anyone had asked me whether I should behave as I ought in a shipwreck I should have had the gravest doubts."
"The prospect had not frightened her, she wrote: 'Rather, somehow, one had a protected feeling, as if it were a kindly thing.'"