War quotes
17K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside war — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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"By creating false environment of a war on drugs, and cruel and unusual punishment with these crimes, 50% of our U.S. population is in jail without having hurt anybody, mostly for drugs."
"War? War is an organized bore."
"I was trying to find out what happened in my lifetime, because I was an older man. We lived through two terms of George Bush, and I was wondering, "Is he an exception to the rule, or he is a continuation? What is driving all these wars? What is driving this attitude of aggressiveness and militarism?" I got my answer - and it was a shocking answer. I found is this whole strain of history, this whole school has been denied by the media. It is a bizarre blindness, because we are such an intelligent country. It's bizarre that we can't get our own history straight."
"War is 90% information."
"In war it is not men, but the man who counts."
"Sometimes a single battle decides everything and sometimes, too, the slightest circumstance decides the issue of a battle. There is a moment in every battle at which the least manoeuvre is decisive and gives superiority, as one drop of water causes overflow."
"The fate of war is to be exalted in the morning, and low enough at night! There is but one step from triumph to ruin."
"The fate of a battle is the result of a moment, of a thought: the hostile forces advance with various combinations, they attack each other and fight for a certain time; the critical moment arrives, a mental flash decides, and the least reserve accomplishes the object."
"War is not at all such a difficult art as people think. . . . In reality it would seem that he is vanquished who is afraid of his adversary and the the whole secret lies in that."
"It is easier to brave and threaten, than to conquer an enemy."
"When you have resolved to fight a battle, collect your whole force. Dispense with nothing. A single battalion sometimes decides the day."
"The affairs of war, like the destiny of battles, as well as empires, hang upon a spiders thread."
"In war, character and opinion make more than half of the reality."
"Every means should be taken to attach the soldier to his colours."
"The allies we gain by victory will turn against us upon the bare whisper of our defeat."
"Unavailable wars are always just."
"War is cruel to the people, and terrible to the conquered."
"Soldiers! Here is the battle you have so long desired! Henceforth victory depends on you; we have need of it."
"An army must have but one line of operations. This must be maintained with care and abandoned only for major reasons."
"The art of land warfare is an art of genius, of inspiration. On the sea nothing is genius or inspiration; everything is positive or empiric."
