Bridge on the River Kwai - Courage and Adamance

I was watching bridge on the River Kwai a couple of days back. Some of the quotes from the movie are memorable and could be part of leadership lessons.

I have always admired this movie for the leadership example it sets. Colonel Nicholson is a perfect example of how chain of command and adherance to the rule works. And he motivates people, displays pride. 

Nicholson says 'One day the war will be over. And I hope that the people who use this bridge in the years to come will remember how it was built and who built it. Not a gang of slaves, but soldiers, British soldiers, even in captivity.'

And 'One day, when, God willing, we all return to our homes, you will feel proud of what you have achieved here in the face of adversity. What you have done will be an example to our countrymen. You have survived with honour in this wilderness. You have turned defeat into victory. I congratulate you.'

Saito is no less when he says 'You are defeated, but you have no shame. You are stubborn, but you have no pride. You endure, but you have no courage.'

But I had not seen a facet of this movie which I observed today. My wife had a view that one could not be so adamant in the face of adversity. It got me thinking, and I realised that there may be some truth in that too. It was only later that I realised that this thought had been expressed in the movie by Shears. He tells Warden 'You make me sick with your heroics. This is just a game, this war. You and that Colonel Nicholson, you're two of a kind. Crazy with courage. For what? How to die like a gentleman. How to die by the rules when the only important thing is how to live like a human being. I'm not going to leave you here to die, Warden, because I don't care about your bridge and I don't care about your rules. If we go on, we go on together.' 

That for me summarised the other facet that I so long had not seen.