Daily Dialogue — September 29, 2012

“Duty, Honor, Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, and what you will be. They are your rallying points. They give you a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the deep springs of life, a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, an appetite for adventure over love of ease. In this way, they will teach you to be an officer and a gentleman. From your ranks come the great captains who will hold the nation’s destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds. The Long Gray Line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses thundering those magic words: “Duty, Honor, Country.” This does not mean that you are warmongers. On the contrary, the soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. But always in our minds ring the ominous words of Plato: “Only the dead have seen the end of war.”

— General Douglas MacArthur (Gregory Peck), MacArthur (1977), written by Hal Barwood & Matthew Robbins

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is acceptance speech, recommended by @TheBrokenCoco. Today’s suggestion by Teddy Pasternak.

Trivia: Prior to production, Gregory Peck disliked this film’s script and demanded re-writes on it.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary from Teddy: “General Douglas MacArthur (Gregory Peck) presented his acceptance speech to West Point cadets on May 12, 1962 on the occasion of his receiving the Sylvanus Thayer Award.”