Jan Valtin Quotes & Sayings

A man lives his life only when he is marching, i thought, when he keeps marching onwards at any price. When he stops marching onwards, he decays. The joy of life is the joy of the experience that comes from feeling one's own strength. — Jan Valtin

Break the character and independence of your man and you will have an obedient trooper. — Jan Valtin

Prisons are built to break men, and when men are broken society has consummated its revenge — Jan Valtin

I would not have shied away from an assignment to sail a canoe around Cape Horn or to take charge of the government of Afghanistan. — Jan Valtin

We were the unflinching prisoners of a grandiose make-believe, we who looked upon ourselves as heard-headed materialists. We dismissed the distress of today, the human wreckage scattered all about us, the terror and militarism prevailing in the country with the stereotyped belief that we were marching forward with great strides. — Jan Valtin