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Quote of the Day

Posted by Lexington Green on March 18th, 2009 (All posts by Lexington Green)

Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.

Frederick the Great

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 9:12 am and is filed under Quotations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

4 Responses to “Quote of the Day”

  1. Robert Schwartz Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 12:51 pm

    And he inscribed his cannons thusly: “Ultima ratio regis“.

  2. Mace Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 1:14 pm

    Great quote.

  3. sol vason Says:
    March 20th, 2009 at 8:25 am

    The cannon in my museum has only the 2 words “ultima ratio”. This has two translations – “ultimate reason” or “God”. Sly humor.

  4. Lexington Green Says:
    March 20th, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    I have seen “ultima ratio regis” translated as “the last resort of kings”.

    Googling I am coming up with “the king’s final argument”.

    The idea is the same. At some point, the conversation ends and the kings speak to each other with cannon balls.

    Recall the scene in Henry V, which I watched again recently, where the Dauphin of France mocks Henry V, by sending him a bunch of tennis balls:

    And tell the pleasant prince this mock of his
    Hath turned his balls to gun-stones, and his soul
    Shall stand sore chargèd for the wasteful vengeance
    That shall fly with them; for many a thousand widows
    Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands,
    Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down,
    And some are yet ungotten and unborn
    That shall have cause to curse the Dauphin’s scorn.

    Henry was early enough that he mostly spoke with cloth-yard shafts, and not so much with his artillery. Henry lived yet in the world of vulgar brawls.

    It would take some time before highly dignified events employing lavish amounts of artillery could happen.

    Frederick, from his balcony seat in Valhalla, must have enjoyed the exquisitely dignified artillery symphonies of the 20th century.

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