To fight is a radical instinct; if men have nothing else to fight over they will fight over words, fancies, or women, or they will fight because they dislike each other’s looks, or because they have met walking in opposite directions. To knock a thing down, especially if it is cocked at an arrogant angle, is a deep delight to the blood. To fight for a reason and in a calculating spirit is something your true warrior despises; even a coward might screw his courage up to such a reasonable conflict.
The joy and glory of fighting lie in its pure spontaneity and consequent generosity; you are not fighting for gain, but for sport and for victory. Victory, no doubt, has its fruits for the victor. If fighting were not a possible means of livelihood the warlike instinct could never have established itself in any long-lived race. A few men can live on plunder; just as there is room in the world for some beasts of prey; other men are reduced to living on industry, just as there are diligent bees, ants, and herbivorous cows. But victory need have no good fruits for the people whose army is victorious.
战斗是一种激进的本能。 如果男人们没有什么可去战斗的， 他们就为言语，幻想或者女人而战。 或者他们会因为不喜欢对方的样子、 相遇于反方向而打架。 打倒一个东西， 尤其是那个东西以一种傲慢的姿态立着时， 能激发人们内心深处的愉悦。 真正的战士不屑于为某个特定的原因而处心积虑地战斗； 因为就算是软骨头面对这种合情合理的争斗也会勇气满满。
战斗的愉悦与荣耀在于其纯粹的自发性及随之而来的大气。 不为获益而战，而为运动与胜利而战。 毫无疑问， 胜利自为胜者带来果实。 如果战斗不是一种谋生手段， 那么那些能长久生存的种族也不会拥有好战这一本能了。 少数人能以掠夺为生， 正如世界上有靠捕猎为生的野兽一样。 而其他人就只能以辛勤工作为生， 就好比勤劳的蜜蜂、 蚂蚁和吃草的牛。 但对于那些在胜利的军队里的人来说， 胜利可不是什么好果子。