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Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.   Macarthur, Douglas

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Source: General DOUGLAS MACARTHUR, address to a joint session of Congress, April 19, 1951, Congressional Record, vol. 97, p. 4125.According to The Home Book of Quotations, ed. Burton Stevenson, 9th ed., p. 2298h, col. 2 , this is a line from a soldiers parody of a nineteenth century gospel hymn, Kind Words Can Never Die. The parody was known at West Point where MacArthur was graduated in 1903. However, since the earliest printed version of the song Old Soldiers Never Die is found in the London publication, Tommys Tunes, compiled by Frederick T. Nettleingham, p. 58 , there is also the theory that the origin of the parody was English. That versions line read: Old soldiers never die, they always fade away. Several other variations have been used by English authors: They simply fade away, Frank Richards, Old Soldiers Never Die, chapter 23, p. 324 ; and they only fade away, James Ronald, Old Soldiers Never Die, p. 7 . · This quote is tagged Soldier · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation · Help your friends discover QB

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