War quotes
17K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Browse quotes that often appear alongside war — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"It is war that wastes a nations wealth, chokes its industries, kills its flower, narrows its sympathies, condemns it to be governed by adventurers, and leaves the puny, deformed, and unmanly to breed the next generation."
"To call war the soil of courage and virtue is like calling debauchery the soil of love."
"I just wanted all the wars to be over so that we could spend the money on starships and Mars colonies."
"Virtue is a state of war, and to live in it we have always to combat with ourselves."
"Divide and rule, a sound motto. Unite and lead, a better one."
"The war against hunger is truly mankind's war of liberation."
"Nipples aren't killing children. They should be more concerned about the wars that are happening. There's so much violence in the world. There are so many legitimate things to be upset about besides nipples."
"War and drink are the two things man is never too poor to buy."
"When I have won a victory I do not repeat my tactics but respond to circumstances in an infinite variety of ways."
"There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must not be attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed."
"The most dangerous moment comes with victory."
"In war there is but one favorable moment; the great art is to seize it!"
"There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others."
"He who wishes to be a surgeon should go to war."
"Faith must trample under foot all reason, sense, and understanding."
"We all have to be concerned about terrorism, but you will never end terrorism by terrorizing others."
"Nowadays it is the fashion to emphasize the horrors of the last war. I didn't find it so horrible. There are just as horrible things happening all round us today, if only we had eyes to see them."
"The United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam."
"World War III will be triggered off not by suppressed nationalists seeking political independence, as happened the first time around when the Serbs at Sarajevo shot the heir to the Austrian throne, but by some semiliterate, whacked-out "loner" who lobs a rocket into a nuclear arsenal in order to impress Brooke Shields."
"We must carry the war into every corner the enemy happens to carry it, to his home, to his centers of entertainment: a total war. It is necessary to prevent him from having a moment of peace, a quiet moment outside his barracks or even inside; we must attack him wherever he may be, make him feel like a cornered beast wherever he may move. Then his moral fiber shall begin to decline, but we shall notice how the signs of decadence begin to disappear."
