"Why one writes is a question I can answer easily, having so often asked it of myself. I believe one writes because one has to create a world in which one can live. I could not live in any of the worlds offered to me - the world of my parents, the world of war, the world of politics. I had to create a world of my own, like a climate, a country, an atmosphere in which I could breathe, reign, and recreate myself when destroyed by living. That, I believe, is the reason for every work of art."
War quotes
War
17K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Topics related to War
Browse quotes that often appear alongside war — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
War quotes (page 158 of 853)
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"I used to think that everything was just being funny but now I don't know. I mean, how can you tell?"
"As a 29 year veteran of the US Army/Army Reserves, retiring as a Colonel and having served as a U.S. diplomat for 16 years and resigning in 2003 in opposition to the Iraq war, I firmly believe war does not resolve political issues. We must work diligently to force the governments of our nations to use diplomacy, not weapons."
"It is as a soldier that you make love and as a lover that you make war."
"And war is wonderful, isn't it? For it's war, isn't it, that the Americans have been preparing for and are preparing for this way step by step. In order to defend this senseless manufacture from all competition that could not fail to arise on all sides."
"Men must be able to engage in business and go to war, but leisure and peace are better; they must do what is necessary and indeed what is useful, but what is honorable is better. On such principles children and persons of every age which requires education should be trained."
"Unfitness for war is unfitness for existence."
"The life changing moment for me what the first time I went to a war zone and that was Sierra Leone. I took two weeks, eleven years ago and I went. I wasn't an Ambassador or anything I just asked to go and I was allowed to go. It was like someone smacked me in the face."
"I think doing anything having to do with war, you walk away so very grateful for everything you have and the safety that you have."
"I find it difficult to feel responsible for the suffering of others. That's why I find war so hard to bear. It's the same with animals: I feel the less harm I do, the lighter my heart. I love a light heart. And when I know I'm causing suffering, I feel the heaviness of it. It's a physical pain. So it's self-interest that I don't want to cause harm."
"I sometimes say the conflict in the work is the conflict of my own thoughts and anxieties. It's a civil war in my head. The top part [of my artwork] is you letting go and floating. You become part of the air and you've tapped into the heartbeat of the universe. I guess that's what people do when they meditate."
"All political movements are basically anti-creative - since a political movement is a form of war."
"Let me have war, say I; it exceeds peace as far as day does night; it's spritely, waking, audible, and full of vent."
"Like an army defeated the snow hath retreated."
"Don't be careless about yourselves--on the other hand not too careful. Live well but do not flaunt it. Laugh a little and teach your men to laugh--get good humor under fire--war is a game that's played with a smile. If you can't smile, grin. If you can't grin, keep out of the way till you can."
"History's villains are more easily recognized in retrospect. In an article published in 1935 and reprinted in 1937, Winston Churchill expressed a curious ambivalence towards the German chancellor prior to the outbreak of war: We cannot tell whether Hitler will be the man who will once again let loose upon the world another war in which civilization will irretrievably succumb, or whether he will go down in history as the man who restored honour and peace of mind to the great Germanic nation. . . ."
"Air power may either end war or end civilization."
"In the event of war, I'm a hostage."
"War isn’t declared in the name of God; it is a human affair entirely."
"Peace is only better than war when it's not hell too. War being hell makes sense."