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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"Patriotism in its simplest, clearest, and most indubitable meaning is nothing but an instrument for the attainment of the government's ambitious and mercenary aims, and a renunciation of human dignity, common sense, and conscience by the governed, and a slavish submission to those who hold power. That is what is really preached wherever patriotism is championed. Patriotism is slavery."
"They expected to lose. And therefore, they lost. [..] People who start thinking deep dark thoughts in the middle of a war start expecting to lose."
"Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose."
"Isn't it strange how the leaders of nations can talk so eloquently about peace while they prepare for war? ... There is no way to make peace while preparing for war."
"It is better to win the peace and to lose the war."
"Do not try and do too much with your own hands. Better the Arabs do it tolerably than you do it perfectly. It is their war, and you are to help them, not win it for them."
"In each of us, two natures are at war – the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer. But in our own hands lies the power to choose – what we want most to be we are."
"Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack."
"Terrorism, War & Bankruptcy are caused by the privatization of money, issued as a debt and compounded by interest."
"Hillary Clinton was the one pressing the hardest for bombing, and look at what happened. They not only destroyed the country, but Libya has become the center for jihad all over Africa and the Middle East. It's a total disaster in every respect, but it does not matter. Look at the so-called global war on terror."
"War is the mother of everything."
"Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them."
"Love is like a war; easy to start but hard to end and you never know where it might take you."
"Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people."
"The reason why there is now no communist government in Paris is because in the circumstances of 1945 the Soviet army was not able to reach French soil."
"All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move."
"All wars are follies, very expensive and very mischievous ones. In my opinion, there never was a good war or a bad peace. When will mankind be convinced and agree to settle their difficulties by arbitration?"
"Failure is an inside job. So is success. If you want to achieve you have to win the war in your thinking first."
"There is a science of war, but how strange that there isn't a science of peace. There are colleges of war; why can’t we study peace?"
"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
