"....Oh! isn't it stupid, the war?-as if it was not good to be alive." He wanted to say: "You can't tell how good it is to be alive till you're facin… - John Galsworthy

Sin confianza en la verdad no había influencia. Daba igual que se tratara de los políticos o de la prensa: si no se podía creer en ellos, no contaban.

Curious how he jibbed away from sight of his wife and child!
One would have thought he must have rushed up at the first moment. On the contrary, he had a sort of physical shrinking from it — fastidious possessor that he was. He was afraid of what Annette was thinking of him, author of her agonies, afraid of the look of the baby, afraid of showing his disappointment with the present and — the future.

The world's a fine place for those who go out to take it; there's lots of unknown stuff in it yet. I'll fill your lap, my pretty, so full of treasures that you shan't know yourself. A man wasn't meant to sit at home...