A conversation with İsmet İnönü on death
İsmet İnönü relates a conversation he had with Atatürk during the darkest days of the War of Independence as follows:
I was talking to Atatürk one day. I unburned my troubles to him and said, “I sometimes feel suffocated during battle; I feel desperate. Then, I get sick of living, I hope to die. I throw myself at everything. I push every limit. I seek death. What do you make of that?”
Atatürk replied, “What you describe is a trait of great commandership. All great commanders chase death in moments of despair and only then do they transform that desperation into victory.”
