In a defeat there would be a roundabout vindication of himself. He thought it would prove, in a manner, that he had fled earlier because of his superior powers of perception. A serious prophet upon predicting a flood should be the first man to climb a tree. This would demonstrate that he was indeed a seer.
The Red Badge of Courage - Steven Crane

In the midst of the horror of the Civil War, our hero tries to persuade himself, by pages and pages of strange arguments, that deserting his friends in battle was the bravest, and most sensible thing that he could possibly have done.

Although critics seem to disagree with me, I think that this is a great book, and gives a close view of just how awful war is, how little sense it makes, and how the people involved in it seem to have very little idea of what they are actually doing there.

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