Errol Flynn was born at Hobart, Tasmania, Australia a century ago today. He grew up at Sydney, failed in two businesses in New Guinea, and moved to England in 1933. Spotted by a Warner Brothers executive the next year he was quickly signed to a contract and soon found himself training with a Sword in preparation for filming Captain Blood. He looked very good at it in film, despite the fact that his health was bad enough that every service rejected his enlistment during World War II, while he starred in war films.
So in the spirit of Robin Hood himself, here are some quotes about swords, En garde!
The oil can is mightier than the sword.
– Everett McKinley Dirksen, 1896 – 1969
Do you know what astonished me most in the world? The inability of force to create anything. In the long run, the sword is always beaten by the spirit.
– Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769 – 1821
Beneath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than the sword.
– Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, 1803 – 1873
When the sword is once drawn, the passions of men observe no bounds of moderation.
– Alexander Hamilton, 1757 – 1804
I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.
– John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, 1892 – 1973
I don't do a film unless it has a sword in it. And if it doesn't have a sword in it, I insist that they have one in the same room to keep me comfortable.
– Orlando Bloom
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKOwaWUQCfI]
Ah, the good old films.