A soldier is a Yahoo (man) hired to kill in cold blood as many of his own species, who have never offended him, as possibly he can.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Swift defines soldiers as mercenaries who kill others without personal offense.
- In plain terms
- Soldiers are hired to kill people who did nothing wrong.
- What can you take from it?
- War often involves killing without personal cause.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is killing ever justified?
- What is a soldier's role?
Another view
It ignores defensive war contexts.
More from Jonathan Swift
Poor Nations are hungry, and rich Nations are proud, and Pride and Hunger will ever be at Variance.
Permalink to quote #62 I told him...that we ate when we were not hungry, and drank without the provocation of thirst.
Permalink to quote #64 I said the thing which was not. (For they have no word in their language to express lying or falsehood.)
Permalink to quote #61
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