There's two kinds of rock n' roll casualty: the one that has huge success and adoration, and then suddenly it stops. Or there's when you're in a band: it is all-consuming, so then you have the dream of that, and then the dream's taken away from you even before it happens.
The first casualty when war comes is truth.
Memory is the first casualty of middle age, if I remember correctly.
Proving yourself in a field where the casualty rate is so notoriously high is an ongoing challenge.
Party and ideology routinely trump institutional interests and responsibilities. Regular order - the set of rules, norms and traditions designed to ensure a fair and transparent process - was the first casualty. The results: No serious deliberation. No meaningful oversight of the executive. A culture of corruption.
It is well known that in war, the first casualty is truth - that during any war truth is forsaken for propaganda.
To me an unnecessary action, or shot, or casualty, was not only waste but sin.
I'm a big fan of dreams. Unfortunately, dreams are our first casualty in life - people seem to give them up, quicker than anything, for a 'reality.'
The image of the scientist who puts the pursuit of truth before anything else has been shattered and replaced by a man on the make or a quasi-religious enthusiast who wants to prove his case at any cost. Science is becoming the tool of campaigning warfare, in which truth is the first casualty.
I like to be alone so I can write. But focus can hurt you. I don't want to be some stress casualty in early middle age.