Faith & Spirit Quote by James Larkin

Larkin’s line doesn’t court pity; it weaponizes pride. “We make mistakes, we have our faults” is a preemptive confession aimed at the people most likely to be dismissed as unruly, naive, or morally suspect: workers in revolt, union men branded as troublemakers, a movement caricatured as irresponsible. By admitting imperfection up front, he blocks the oldest tactic of power - discredit the messenger to avoid the message. The phrase “God knows” adds a wry, almost weary intimacy, like he’s speaking across a pub table rather than from a pulpit.

Then he pivots hard from private flaw to public purpose: “when danger threatens and duty calls.” The paired clauses are a recruitment poster without the glossy lies. He’s not promising safety or even victory; he’s describing an ethic of collective risk. That’s the context of early 20th-century Irish labor politics and repression: strikes, lockouts, baton charges, prison time, hunger, and the constant pressure to fold.

The masterstroke is the closing image: “we go smiling to our own funeral.” It’s gallows humor with a straight spine. The smile isn’t cheerfulness; it’s defiance, the refusal to let fear be the last word. Larkin reframes sacrifice as agency: if the system wants to grind you down, you deny it the satisfaction of your despair. The subtext is contagious courage - not sanctimony, not martyrdom for its own sake, but solidarity so stubborn it looks like joy even at the edge of loss.