Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
NUMBER:
2063
AUTHOR:
Henri Philippe Pétain (1856–1951)
QUOTATION:
Our spirit of enjoyment was stronger than our spirit of sacrifice. We wanted to have more than we wanted to give. We tried to spare effort, and met disaster.
ATTRIBUTION:
Marshal HENRI PÉTAIN.—Attributed to him in a caption, which said, “Frenchmen … heard Marshal Pétain pronounce this requiem over a lost France.” The caption accompanies an article, “Danger: Men Not at Work!” by Hatton W. Summers, Nation’s Business, May 1941, p. 15.
