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War quotes

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“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

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

“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”

“Listen up—there's no war that will end all wars . . . War breeds war.” Haruki Murakami, “Kafka on the Shore” - 2002

“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

“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

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

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

“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

“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

“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

“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

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

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

“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

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

“There is no such thing as foreign or civil war; there is only just and unjust war.” Victor Hugo, “Les Misérables” - 1862

“It is of the greatest important in this world that a man should know himself, and the measure of his own strength and means; and he who knows that he has not a genius for fighting must learn how to govern by the arts of peace.” Niccolò Machiavelli, “The Prince” - 1532

“Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: (1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. (2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. (3) He will win whose army is animated by...” 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

“WAR, n. A by-product of the arts of peace.” Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil's Dictionary” - 1906

“It will involve the organization and mobilization of all the material resources of the country to supply the materials of war and serve the incidental needs of the nation in the most abundant and yet the most economical and efficient way possible.” Woodrow Wilson, “We Must Accept War” - 2 April 1917

“All’s fair in love and war” J. K. Rowling, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” - 2007

“As we gather tonight, our nation is at war, our economy is in recession, and the civilized world faces unprecedented dangers. Yet the state of our Union has never been stronger.” George W. Bush, “State of the Union Address” - 29 January 2002

“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

“We are advocates of the abolition of war, we do not want war; but war can only be abolished through war, and in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun.” Mao Zedong, “Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung” - 1964

“Anyway, I'm sort of glad they've got the atomic bomb invented. If there's ever another war, I'm going to sit right the hell on top of it. I'll volunteer for it, I swear to God I will.” J. D. Salinger, “The Catcher in the Rye” - 1951

“If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war.” Ray Bradbury, “Fahrenheit 451” - 1953

“No, it was more than that; his wartime experience had taught him to trust his instincts, even though he’d never been sure where they’d come from.” Nicholas Sparks, “The Lucky One” - 2008

“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

“The atom bomb is a paper tiger which the U.S. reactionaries use to scare people. It looks terrible, but in fact it isn't. Of course, the atom bomb is a weapon of mass slaughter, but the outcome of a war is decided by the people, not by one or two...” Mao Zedong, “Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung” - 1964

“A war is just when the intention that causes it to be undertaken is just...” Henry Kissinger, “Diplomacy” - 1994

“I’ve lost a hand, a father, a son, a sister, and a lover, and soon enough I will lose a brother. And yet they keep telling me House Lannister won this war.” George R. R. Martin, “A Storm of Swords” - 2000

“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

“the world is full enough of hurts and mischances without wars to multiply them.” J. R. R. Tolkien, “The Return of the King” - 1955

“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

“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

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

“It must be added that the men who most respect embryonic life are the same ones who do not hesitate to send adults to death in war.” Simone de Beauvoir, “The Second Sex” - 1949

“Then came the war, old sport. It was a great relief and I tried very hard to die but I seemed to bear an enchanted life.” F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby” - 1925

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

“For it can never be that Warre shall preserve life, and Peace destroy it.” Thomas Hobbes, “Leviathan” - 1651

“Thus it will always happen that he who is not your friend will demand your neutrality, whilst he who is your friend will entreat you to declare yourself with arms.” Niccolò Machiavelli, “The Prince” - 1532

“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

“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

“They were adored by the Germans, who thought they were exactly what the Englishmen ought to be. They made war look stylish and reasonable, and fun.” Kurt Vonnegut, “Slaughterhouse-Five” - 1969

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

“Weapons are an important factor in war, but not the decisive factor; it is people, not things, that are decisive. The contest of strength is not only a contest of military and economic power, but also a contest of human power and morale. Military...” Mao Zedong, “Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung” - 1964

“Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows.” Charles Darwin, “On The Origin of Species” - 1859

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

Related topics

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

Related authors

Sun Tzu (9)
Winston Churchill (8)
Ulysses S. Grant (6)
George R. R. Martin (5)
Mao Zedong (4)
William Shakespeare (3)
Alexis de Tocqueville (3)
Kurt Vonnegut (3)
Thomas Hobbes (3)
George Orwell (2)
C. S. Lewis (2)
Victor Hugo (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)

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)
A Storm of Swords (3)
Mere Christianity (2)
Les Misérables (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)
The Second World War (2)
Richard III (1)