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War quotes

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“All oppression creates a state of war.” Simone de Beauvoir, “The Second Sex” - 1949

“Force, and Fraud, are in warre the two Cardinall vertues.” Thomas Hobbes, “Leviathan” - 1651

“He in peace is wounded, not in war.” William Shakespeare, “The Rape of Lucrece” - 1594

“In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it.” C. S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity” - 1952

“Civil war—what does that mean? Is there a foreign war? Is not all war between men, war between brothers?” Victor Hugo, “Les Misérables” - 1862

“But when he has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.” Plato, “The Republic”

“Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true.” Ulysses S. Grant, “Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant” - 1885

“There are two things which a democratic people will always find very difficult—to begin a war, and to end it.” Alexis de Tocqueville, “Democracy in America” - 1840

“Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy's purpose.” Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” - 5th century BC

“You’ll get more from being a peacemaker than a warrior.” Arnold Schwarzenegger, “Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story” - 2012

“It can therefore be said that politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.” Mao Zedong, “Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung” - 1964

“Further, nothing, except sin, is contrary to an act of virtue. But war is contrary to peace. Therefore war is always a sin.” Thomas Aquinas, “Summa Theologica” - 1274

“War is a contagion, whether it be declared or undeclared.” Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Quarantine Speech” - 5 October 1937

“Coin is the sinews of war.” François Rabelais, “Gargantua and Pantagruel” - 1534

“The mere absence of war is not peace.” John F. Kennedy, “State of the Union Address” - 14 January 1963

“War is war. The only good human being is a dead one.” George Orwell, “Animal Farm” - 1945

“There’s never been a true war that wasn’t fought between two sets of people who were certain they were in the right.” Neil Gaiman, “American Gods” - 2001

“Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive, as we had during the war.” C. S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity” - 1952

“So the whole war is because we can’t talk to each other.” Orson Scott Card, “Ender's Game” - 1985

“When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.” Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” - 5th century BC

“in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.” Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” - 5th century BC

“Can anything be more ridiculous than that a man should have the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of the water, and because his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have none with him?” Blaise Pascal, “Pensées” - 1670

“There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs.” George R. R. Martin, “A Storm of Swords” - 2000

“One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters.” Kurt Vonnegut, “Slaughterhouse-Five” - 1969

“Every man should lose a battle in his youth, so he does not lose a war when he is old.” George R. R. Martin, “A Feast for Crows” - 2005

“In God's name cheerly on, courageous friends, to reap the harvest of perpetual peace by this one bloody trial of sharp war.” William Shakespeare, “Richard III” - 1597

“The edge of war, like an ill-sheathed knife, no more shall cut his master.” William Shakespeare, “Henry IV, Part 1” - 1597

“The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labour. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might...” George Orwell, “1984” - 1949

“Its picture rises before us vivid and bright: the finely carved, dragon-shaped prow; the high, curving stem; the long row of shields, black and yellow alternately, ranged along the sides; the gleam of steel; the scent of murder.” Winston Churchill, “A History of the English-Speaking Peoples” - 1956

“Thus ended the great American Civil War, which must upon the whole be considered the noblest and least avoidable of all the great mass-conflicts of which till then there was record.” Winston Churchill, “A History of the English-Speaking Peoples” - 1956

“Without any coherent national organisation to repel from the land on which they had settled the ever-unknowable descents from the seas, the Saxons, now for four centuries entitled to be deemed the owners of the soil, very nearly succumbed...” Winston Churchill, “A History of the English-Speaking Peoples” - 1956

“It was Twelfth Night, and the Saxons, who in these days of torment refreshed and fortified themselves by celebrating the feasts of the Church, were off their guard, engaged in pious exercises, or perhaps even drunk. Down swept the ravaging foe....” Winston Churchill, “A History of the English-Speaking Peoples” - 1956

“At this point the march of invention brought a new factor upon the scene. Iron was dug and forged. Men armed with iron entered Britain from the Continent and killed the men of bronze. At this point we can plainly recognise across the vanished...” Winston Churchill, “A History of the English-Speaking Peoples” - 1956

“A group of pagan ruffians and pirates had gained possession of an effective military and naval machine, but they faced a mass of formidable veterans whom they had to feed and manage, and for whom they must provide killings. Such men make plans,...” Winston Churchill, “A History of the English-Speaking Peoples” - 1956

“Heroism by order, senseless violence, and all the pestilent nonsense that does by the name of patriotism—how I hate them!” Albert Einstein, “The world as I see it” - 1949

“Every one has friends who were killed in the War. Every one gives up something when they marry.” Virginia Woolf, “Mrs Dalloway” - 1925

“The warlike days are over. Blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonourable peace, and the glories of the great races are as a tale that is told.” Bram Stoker, “Dracula” - 1897

“I had always felt that if there were a serious war I wished to be in a position to explain to my children why I did take part in it, and not why I did not take part in it.” Theodore Roosevelt, “Theodore Roosevelt; an Autobiography” - 1913

“The distant rear of an army engaged in battle is not the best place from which to judge correctly what is going on in front.” Ulysses S. Grant, “Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant” - 1885

“The problem for us was to move forward to a decisive victory, or our cause was lost.” Ulysses S. Grant, “Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant” - 1885

“I felt that 15,000 men on the 8th would be more effective than 50,000 a month later.” Ulysses S. Grant, “Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant” - 1885

“The enemy had been much demoralized by his defeats at Champion's Hill and the Big Black, and I believed he would not make much effort to hold Vicksburg.” Ulysses S. Grant, “Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant” - 1885

“The war has made us a nation of great power and intelligence. We have but little to do to preserve peace, happiness and prosperity at home, and the respect of other nations. Our experience ought to teach us the necessity of the first; our power...” Ulysses S. Grant, “Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant” - 1885

“All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and the shortest means to accomplish it.” Alexis de Tocqueville, “Democracy in America” - 1840

“No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country.” Alexis de Tocqueville, “Democracy in America” - 1840

“Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.” Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” - 5th century BC

“Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy. Do not interfere with an army that is returning home.” Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” - 5th century BC

“Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.” Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” - 5th century BC

“The art of war is of vital importance to the State.” Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” - 5th century BC

“There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.” Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” - 5th century BC

Related topics

peace death battle defeat victory democracy people violence strength life courage freedom weapons experience comfort politics certainty blood enemy army

Related authors

Sun Tzu (9)
Winston Churchill (7)
Ulysses S. Grant (6)
Mao Zedong (4)
William Shakespeare (3)
George R. R. Martin (3)
Alexis de Tocqueville (3)
Kurt Vonnegut (3)
Thomas Hobbes (3)
George Orwell (2)
C. S. Lewis (2)
Theodore Roosevelt (2)
Eleanor Roosevelt (2)
Margaret Atwood (2)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (2)
George W. Bush (2)
François Rabelais (2)
Simone de Beauvoir (2)
Niccolò Machiavelli (2)
Woodrow Wilson (2)

Related sources

The Art of War (9)
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples (6)
Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant (6)
State of the Union Address (4)
Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (4)
Democracy in America (3)
Slaughterhouse-Five (3)
Leviathan (3)
Mere Christianity (2)
The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt (2)
The Blind Assassin (2)
Quarantine Speech (2)
Gargantua and Pantagruel (2)
The Second Sex (2)
The Prince (2)
We Must Accept War (2)
A Storm of Swords (2)
Richard III (1)
Henry IV, Part 1 (1)
The Rape of Lucrece (1)