:05:00
But, of course, if such a thing
should happen here...
:05:03
you would not blame me
for a feeling of pride.
:05:06
Perhaps some will say...
:05:08
that you should not
be allowed to go yet...
:05:10
that you are too young,
that you have homes, mothers, fathers...
:05:15
that you should not be torn away.
:05:18
Are your fathers so forgetful
of their fatherland...
:05:21
that they would let it perish
rather than you?
:05:27
Are your mothers so weak
that they cannot send a son...
:05:30
to defend the land
which gave them birth?
:05:32
And after all,
is a little experience...
:05:36
such a bad thing for a boy?
:05:39
Is the honour of wearing
a uniform...
:05:43
something from which
we should run?
:05:46
And if our young ladies
glory in those who wear it...
:05:49
is that anything
to be ashamed of?
:05:51
I know you have never desired
the adulation of heroes.
:05:56
That has not been
part of my teaching.
:05:59
We have sought
to make ourselves worthy...
:06:02
and let acclaim come
when it would.
:06:05
But to be foremost in battle...
:06:09
is a virtue
not to be despised.
:06:12
I believe it will be
a quick war...
:06:14
that there will be few losses.
:06:16
But if losses there must be...
:06:18
then let us remember
the Latin phrase...
:06:21
which must have come
to the lips of many a Roman...
:06:24
when he stood embattled
in a foreign land:
:06:28
"Dulce et decorum est
pro patria mori."
:06:32
"Sweet and fitting it is
to die for the fatherland. "
:06:39
Some of you
may have ambitions.
:06:41
I know of one young man
who has great promise as a writer...
:06:46
and he has written the first act
of a tragedy...
:06:49
which would be a credit
to one of the masters.
:06:52
And he is dreaming, I suppose...
:06:54
of following in the footsteps
of Goethe and Schiller...
:06:57
and I hope he will.
:06:59
But now our country calls.