Listen: if there is war down there— and if you think me worthy of it, and capable —you ought to grant me the honor of conducting the campaign. Surely, you don't think me too old?

Emilio De Bono (March 19, 1866 – January 11, 1944) was an Italian general who fought in World War I and fascist activist who helped organize the Italian Fascist Party. De Bono opposed the Italian entrance in World War II. In 1942, he was appointed Minister of State. In 1943, he participated in the Fascist Grand Council of which toppled Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. When Mussolini returned to power at the head of the Italian Social Republic, he had De Bono arrested and tried for treason. De Bono was executed by firing squad at Verona, together with Galeazzo Ciano, Gottardi, Marinelli and Pareschi on January 11, 1944.

Quotes

• Listen: if there is war down there— and if you think me worthy of it, and capable —you ought to grant me the honor of conducting the campaign. Surely, you don't think me too old?
  • To Mussolini. Quoted in "Lion by the tail: the story of the Italian-Ethiopian War" - Page 32 - by Thomas M. Coffey - History - 1974

• If you know anything, deny, deny, deny. I want to save Fascism.
  • To Dumini. Quoted in "The Terror in Europe" - Page 223 - by Hubert Hessell Tiltman - 1932

• Forgive me, that was the soldier speaking. Now this is the man speaking again. And the man is more than the soldier. I can bear anything. Death is a more solemn thing than all the earthly trash.
  • Quoted in "Mussolini: Twilight and Fall" - Page 129 - by Roman Dąbrowski - Italy - 1956

• This was a great reward for us. We had not had the good fortune to meet the enemy in force.
  • Quoted in "The Civilizing Mission: A History of the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1935-1936" - Page 172 - by A. J. Barker - 1968

• We look on seriously, but serenely.
  • Quoted in "The Hammond Times" - Newspaper article - November 2, 1935, Hammond, Indiana

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