[Alba] did not understand the state of civil war, nor did she realize that war is the soldiers’ work of art, the culmination of all their training, the gold medal of their profession.  Soldiers are not made to shine in times of peace.  The coup gave them a chance to put into practice what they had learned in their barracks:  blind obedience, the use of arms, and other skills that soldiers can master once they silence the scruples of their hearts.

Uncategorized Isabelle Allende The House of the Spirits