General Aggravating Circumstance

Famous quotes containing the words general and/or circumstance:

    A private should preserve a respectful attitude toward his superiors, and should seldom or never proceed so far as to offer suggestions to his general in the field. If the battle is not being conducted to suit him, it is better for him to resign. By the etiquette of war, it is permitted to none below the rank of newspaper correspondent to dictate to the general in the field.
    Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)

    If the pages of this book contain some successful verse, the reader must excuse me the discourtesy of having usurped it first. Our nothingness differs little; it is a trivial and chance circumstance that you should be the reader of these exercises and I their author.
    Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)