They say we are diminished, so to prize Defense above all else – Learning, Arts, Allies.

But in this fight is glory, honor, and our lives.  And for what else were we put here?  If we will not die for this, then they will die.

How can we, who sit on Evil’s watch, not love the soldier best?  He grows in glory like the sun, lighting our way with joyful fire, while like the silver moon his brother hangs: ever seen, never felt.

Lore, Learning, Hindsight - these were the distractions of my youth.  And all will have their day.  No doubt we will have need of them ere long, but not within my lifetime; not until our fight is won. 

Only with his winning will we rest; and so, my Favored Son.

I wrote this in reponse to the entry on Boromir I found in some book I now can't track down. It said it was a sign of Gondor's decay that their culture had come to prize the role of soldier most.

And if you think you catch a whiff of my feelings for the current US foreign policy you would not be wrong.