When General Edward Braddock died, he reportedly said to George Washington either or both “We shall know better another time” and “Who would have thought?”
That latter expression might make sense for all of us as we approach our own demise though we might add “at this place and at this time.” For Braddock, death came by war wound in a skirmish during the French and Indian War along what is now called the National Road, or Route 40 between Chestnut Ridge and Laurel Ridge east of Uniontown in southwestern Pennsylvania. I suppose every soldier knows that death is possible while believing it is not probable. The other expression ascribed to Braddock, “Who would have thought?” is not unexpected. Braddock was a Londoner who had survived a dual and other military engagements; dying in the woods far from home was most likely not his plan for the day.
The former quotation, “We shall know better another time” appears to be the lot of all of us. Our limitations, like those of a British major-general who failed to anticipate the nature of his enemy, include our running out of time to use the lessons that we learn, especially any “last lessons.” Thus, Braddock’s last words might be repeated by many: The Selfie-taker who stands too close to a precipice and falls to her death, the saber-rattling leader of a belligerent country like North Korea, the hegemonic leader who decides to invade a neighboring country, or the rash home-invader who meets death at the hands of an armed homeowner.
Knowing better another time isn’t an option because this is not our practice life. Each of us will have a Braddock moment when we learn a last lesson that we can never apply at “another time.”
That latter expression might make sense for all of us as we approach our own demise though we might add “at this place and at this time.” For Braddock, death came by war wound in a skirmish during the French and Indian War along what is now called the National Road, or Route 40 between Chestnut Ridge and Laurel Ridge east of Uniontown in southwestern Pennsylvania. I suppose every soldier knows that death is possible while believing it is not probable. The other expression ascribed to Braddock, “Who would have thought?” is not unexpected. Braddock was a Londoner who had survived a dual and other military engagements; dying in the woods far from home was most likely not his plan for the day.
The former quotation, “We shall know better another time” appears to be the lot of all of us. Our limitations, like those of a British major-general who failed to anticipate the nature of his enemy, include our running out of time to use the lessons that we learn, especially any “last lessons.” Thus, Braddock’s last words might be repeated by many: The Selfie-taker who stands too close to a precipice and falls to her death, the saber-rattling leader of a belligerent country like North Korea, the hegemonic leader who decides to invade a neighboring country, or the rash home-invader who meets death at the hands of an armed homeowner.
Knowing better another time isn’t an option because this is not our practice life. Each of us will have a Braddock moment when we learn a last lesson that we can never apply at “another time.”
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