Haile Selassie I, emperor of Ethiopia, address to the Ethiopian Parliament, July 18, 1935. "My Life and Ethiopia's Progress", 1892–1937, trans. Edward Ullendorff, p. 220 (1976).

Soldiers! When it is announced that a respected and beloved leader has died for our freedom in the course of the battle, do not grieve, do not lose hope! Observe that anyone who dies for his country is a fortunate man, but death takes what it wants, indiscriminately, in peace-time as well as in war. It is better to die with freedom than without it. Our fathers who have maintained our country in freedom for us have offered us their life in sacrifice; so let them be an example to you! Soldier, trader, peasant, young and old, man and woman, be united! Defend your country by helping each other! According to ancient custom, the women will stand in defence of their country by giving encouragement to the soldier and by caring for the wounded. Although Italy is doing everything possible to disunite us, whether Christian or Muslim we will unitedly resist. shelter and our shield is God. May our attackers' new weapons not deflect you from your thoughts which are dedicated to your defence of Ethiopia's freedom. Your King who speaks to you today will at that time be in your midst, prepared to shed his blood for the liberty of Ethiopia.

— Haile Selassie on Soldiers

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Soldiers! When it is announced that a respected and beloved leader has died for our freedom in the course of the battle, do not grieve, do not lose hope! Observe that anyone who dies for his country is a fortunate man, but death takes what it wants, indiscriminately, in peace-time as well as in war. It is better to die with freedom than without it. Our fathers who have maintained our country in freedom for us have offered us their life in sacrifice; so let them be an example to you! Soldier, trader, peasant, young and old, man and woman, be united! Defend your country by helping each other! According to ancient custom, the women will stand in defence of their country by giving encouragement to the soldier and by caring for the wounded. Although Italy is doing everything possible to disunite us, whether Christian or Muslim we will unitedly resist. shelter and our shield is God. May our attackers' new weapons not deflect you from your thoughts which are dedicated to your defence of Ethiopia's freedom. Your King who speaks to you today will at that time be in your midst, prepared to shed his blood for the liberty of Ethiopia." in the context of "Haile Selassie I, emperor of Ethiopia, address to the Ethiopian Parliament, July 18, 1935. "My Life and Ethiopia's Progress", 1892–1937, trans. Edward Ullendorff, p. 220 (1976)." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Soldiers" (Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Haile Selassie

About Haile Selassie

Haile Selassie Ge'ez: ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ, romanized: qädamawi haylä səllasé (23 July 1892 – 27 August 1975), born Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael, was regent of Ethiopia from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, including 5 years of exile from 1936 to 1941 in the period of Italian occupation. Though himself a life-long Christian, and a member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, an Oriental Orthodox Church, he became revered as God incarnate by followers of the Rastafari movement founded in Jamaica in the early 1930s. He was overthrown by a Communist coup d'état in 1974.