War Quotes

So it goes.

We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it

In war, truth is the first thing to die, propaganda the first thing to thrive

Only the defeated know war. Only the survivors know the ultimate cost

Soldiers are citizens of death's grey land, drawing no dividend from time's to-morrows

If we don't end war, war will end us

The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy

Kindness is invincible, but only when it is genuine, without hypocrisy or faking

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war

Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die.

You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.

Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all

Opportunities multiply as they are seized

They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason

All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal.

War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.

War does not determine who is right – only who is left.

If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined

Courage is fear holding on a minute longer

Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win

I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men coughing out their gassed lungs. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war

To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less

War is like a fire—if not put out, it will burn itself out, but not without causing destruction

Victory comes from finding opportunities in problems

Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy

You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you

Sweet is war to those who have never experienced it

If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking

Wars spring from unseen and generally insignificant causes, the first outbreak being often but an explosion of anger.

If a man does not strike first, he will be the first struck

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die

The drums of war are loud, but the soft voices of peace are often drowned out without notice

All quiet on the Western Front—a phrase which ran like a sentence of doom over the tense, expectant countryside

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

Battles are sometimes won by generals; wars are nearly always won by sergeants and privates

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure

An army marches on its stomach

The sinews of war are infinite money

The first casualty when war comes is truth

No one won the last war, and no one will win the next war

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, 'Mother, what was war?'

Only the dead have seen the end of war.

How much longer will our lives be dictated by the caprice of men who mistake force for vision?

The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.

Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be

It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it

War is what happens when language fails.

Everyone’s a pacifist between wars. It’s like being a vegetarian between meals.

In modern war... you will die like a dog for no good reason.

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat

To secure peace is to prepare for war

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed

It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace

Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds

When the elephants fight it is the grass that suffers

It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.

He who wishes to fight must first count the cost

War grows out of the desire of the individual to gain advantage at the expense of his fellow man

Excess in anything becomes a fault; excess in courage becomes recklessness

In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes.

The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his

Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.

If you win, you need not have to explain… If you lose, you should not be there to explain!

In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible

Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.