--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I scoffed at such old fashioned notions…" description: "\"“I scoffed at such old fashioned notions as duty, patriotism, the military virtues. And here I was, aged fifty, standing on guard at the very edge of t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/david-malouf-15192_duty-and-attitude_i-scoffed-at-such-old-fashioned-notions_777526.png" --- # I scoffed at such old fashioned notions as duty… ![“I scoffed at such old fashioned notions as duty, patriotism, the military virtues. And here I was, aged fifty, standing on guard at the very edge of the known world. To protect what? A hundred or so mud and wattle huts, three hundred savage strangers who do not even speak my tongue. And, of…” quote by David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/david-malouf-15192_duty-and-attitude_i-scoffed-at-such-old-fashioned-notions_777526.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/david-malouf-15192_duty-and-attitude_i-scoffed-at-such-old-fashioned-notions_777526.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/david-malouf-15192_duty-and-attitude_i-scoffed-at-such-old-fashioned-notions_777526.png) > ““I scoffed at such old fashioned notions as duty, patriotism, the military virtues. And here I was, aged fifty, standing on guard at the very edge of the known world. To protect what? A hundred or so mud and wattle huts, three hundred savage strangers who do not even speak my tongue. And, of course, my own skin.”” [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator reflects on abandoning old ideals while confronting the absurdity of protecting distant, unfamiliar people. **In simple terms:** Old ideals clash with harsh reality. Key Takeaway Question the purpose of your duties. Themes duty patriotism illusion age war identity Mood reflective melancholic Type narrative philosophical When to use this quote - military service - retirement - cultural exchange - personal reflection Key Concepts moral ambiguity colonialism existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What does “protect” truly mean here? - Are you defending or imposing? A Different Perspective The speaker may be romanticizing the past, ignoring present complexities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Duty-and-attitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty-and-attitude/) [Old fashioned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-fashioned/) ## Related quotes > [Commerce diminishes the spirit, both of patriotism and military defence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/commerce-diminishes-the-spirit-both-of-patriotism-and-military-defence/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/we-the-people-recognize-that-we-have-responsibilities-as-well-as/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [If we read history with an open mind, we cannot fail to conclude that, among all the military virtues, the energetic conduct of war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/if-we-read-history-with-an-open-mind-we-cannot-fail-to-conclude-that/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Even a pacifist should admire the military virtues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/even-a-pacifist-should-admire-the-military-virtues/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [Conquest is the missionary of valor, and the hard impact of military virtues beats meanness out of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-bagehot/conquest-is-the-missionary-of-valor-and-the-hard-impact-of-military/) [Walter Bagehot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-bagehot/) > [“Mankind has a divine duty, to be stewardship of the natural resources.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/mankind-has-a-divine-duty-to-be-stewardship-of-the-natural-resources/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“He was strict and hard and had perfectly clear and definite ideas about duty, where the others were concerned. 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If happiness in this world is not for me,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/by-his-god-s-help-i-will-arise-and-address-myself-diligently-to-my/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [“Life is a service. What you will do lies in your soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/life-is-a-service-what-you-will-do-lies-in-your-soul/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“Duty is doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons, without regard to the cost to one’s self.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelo-dirks/duty-is-doing-the-right-thing-at-the-right-time-for-the-right-reasons/) [Angelo Dirks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelo-dirks/) > [“You don’t know what your account balance of personal courage is until that situation presents itself where that check needs to be written and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donavan-nelson-butler/you-don-t-know-what-your-account-balance-of-personal-courage-is-until/) [Donavan Nelson Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donavan-nelson-butler/) > [“Leading by example through "Servant Leadership" used to be a badge of honor that distinguished you from the Corps of the Blue Falcon. Present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donavan-nelson-butler-master-sergeant-us-army/leading-by-example-through-servant-leadership-used-to-be-a-badge-of/) [Donavan Nelson Butler, Master Sergeant US Army](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donavan-nelson-butler-master-sergeant-us-army/) ## More by David Malouf > [“Brisbane is so sleepy, so slatternly, so sprawlingly unlovely… It is simply the most ordinary place in the world…It was so shabby and makeshift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/brisbane-is-so-sleepy-so-slatternly-so-sprawlingly-unlovely-it-is/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“The hundred possibilities a situation contains may be more significant than the occurrence of any of them, and metaphor truer in the long run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/the-hundred-possibilities-a-situation-contains-may-be-more/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [Words his soul danced to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/words-his-soul-danced-to/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [I write not to record what I think but to discover what I think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/i-write-not-to-record-what-i-think-but-to-discover-what-i-think/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“So these things happen, deep in our lives. 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It is like the warmth of another body that has absorbed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/the-earth-s-warmth-under-me-as-i-stretch-out-at-night-is-astonishing/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [Fiction, with its preference for what is small and might elsewhere seem irrelevant; its facility for smuggling us into another skin and allowing us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/fiction-with-its-preference-for-what-is-small-and-might-elsewhere/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“I have heard no word of my own language; I am rendered dumb.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/i-have-heard-no-word-of-my-own-language-i-am-rendered-dumb/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“She had given him up. That was the hard condition of his being and of all commerce between them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/she-had-given-him-up-that-was-the-hard-condition-of-his-being-and-of/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [With all those prizes the most interesting thing is getting on to the shortlist, because that tells you who people see as your peers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/with-all-those-prizes-the-most-interesting-thing-is-getting-on-to-the/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“So long as we are driven by the need to make up for our needs; by the restless sense that we are not yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/so-long-as-we-are-driven-by-the-need-to-make-up-for-our-needs-by-the/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [We’re such contrary creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/we-re-such-contrary-creatures/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“Here is the life you have tried to throw away. Here is your second chance. Here is the destiny you have tried to shake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/here-is-the-life-you-have-tried-to-throw-away-here-is-your-second/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) [Explore all 44 David Malouf quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) ## More Duty-and-attitude quotes > [ “By his \[God's\] help I will arise and address myself diligently to my appointed duty. If happiness in this world is not for me,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/by-his-god-s-help-i-will-arise-and-address-myself-diligently-to-my/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [“Mankind has a divine duty, to be stewardship of the natural resources.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/mankind-has-a-divine-duty-to-be-stewardship-of-the-natural-resources/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“You don’t know what your account balance of personal courage is until that situation presents itself where that check needs to be written and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donavan-nelson-butler/you-don-t-know-what-your-account-balance-of-personal-courage-is-until/) [Donavan Nelson Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donavan-nelson-butler/) > [“Duty is doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons, without regard to the cost to one’s self.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelo-dirks/duty-is-doing-the-right-thing-at-the-right-time-for-the-right-reasons/) [Angelo Dirks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelo-dirks/) > [“Life is a service. What you will do lies in your soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/life-is-a-service-what-you-will-do-lies-in-your-soul/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“The different kinds of work require different people to perform the task. You must fulfil your specific task.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-different-kinds-of-work-require-different-people-to-perform-the/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“Let no one ever intimidate you, you are standing on no one's ground. But again, some have claimed the earth as their own and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/let-no-one-ever-intimidate-you-you-are-standing-on-no-one-s-ground/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“He was strict and hard and had perfectly clear and definite ideas about duty, where the others were concerned. For oneself one can always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hjalmar-s-derberg/he-was-strict-and-hard-and-had-perfectly-clear-and-definite-ideas/) [Hjalmar Söderberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hjalmar-s-derberg/) > [“Leading by example through "Servant Leadership" used to be a badge of honor that distinguished you from the Corps of the Blue Falcon. Present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donavan-nelson-butler-master-sergeant-us-army/leading-by-example-through-servant-leadership-used-to-be-a-badge-of/) [Donavan Nelson Butler, Master Sergeant US Army](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donavan-nelson-butler-master-sergeant-us-army/) [Browse all 10 Duty-and-attitude quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty-and-attitude/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I scoffed at such old fashioned notions as duty, patriotism, the military virtues. And here I was, aged fifty, standing on guard at the very edge of the known world. 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