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War

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“The Bush administration has committed the country to a new, pseudo-religious doctrine of war, endless war — for "the war on terror" is nothing less than that.”
Susan Sontag (1933–2004) said by 2004 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The communist theory is that a world war is inevitable; that in that war, if they play their cards well, the democracies will be lined up against the fascist dictatorships, and that the result of the war will be the triumph of Communism all over the world. Their chief program now is to get the democracies so lined up.”
Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are constantly thinking of the great war … which which we think to-day as a war which saved the Union, and it did indeed save the Union, but it was a war that did a great deal more than that. It created in this country what had never existed before — a national consciousness. It was not the salvation of the Union, it was the rebirth of the Union.”
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) first seen 1915 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Memorial Day Address (31 May 1915)
“This war, in its inception was a commercial and industrial war. It was not a political war.”
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) first seen 1917 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Coliseum in St. Louis, Missouri, on the Peace Treaty and the League of Nations (5 September 1919), as published in "The Public Papers of Woodrow Wilson (Authorized Edition) War and Peace: Presidential Mess…
“Now, in the face of these facts, every American President has drawn the same conclusion: President Harry Truman said: "Such a war is not a possible policy for rational man." President Eisenhower said: "In a nuclear war, there can be no victory--only losers." President Kennedy said: "Total war makes no sense .... " And I say that we must learn to live with each other or we will destroy each other.”
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The only war America wants to fight is war against poverty, hunger, ignorance, and disease. It's the only war mankind can win.”
Walter Reuther (1907–1970) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Text of interview with Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev, San Francisco, California, September 20, 1959, as quoted in Walter P Reuther: Selected Papers (1961), by Henry M. Christman, p. 302
“The lesson had been learned from Vietnam-a lesson in manipulation. In Iraq, there would be no daily television images of the human toll of war. The government and the media would portray a clean war, a war nearly devoid of victims.”
Amy Goodman (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Putin's war on Ukraine has entered its next phase, one of destruction and slaughter of civilians. It is also a part of Putin's World War, a war on the civilized world of international law, democracy, and any threat to his power, which he declared long ago.”
Garry Kasparov (born 1963) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Start of Twitter thread (2 March 2022)
“It's a paradox, isn't it? Dictators lie about everything they have done, but often they tell us exactly what they're going to do. Just listen. Anyone who is surprised at Putin's war crimes in Ukraine must not be aware about his long record, beginning with the Second Chechen War in Grozny more than two decades ago. Vladimir Putin has been a war criminal from the start.”
Garry Kasparov (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Right now, the choice isn't between war and peace. It is between war and endless war.”
Michael Scheuer (born 1952) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hardball with Chris Matthews, November 16 2004
“The men who indulge in these murders say it is war. If it is war, they, at any rate, cannot complain if we apply some of the rules of war... Until this conspiracy is suppressed there is no hope of real peace or conciliation in Ireland, and every one desires peace and conciliation—on fair terms; fair to Ireland, yes, but fair to Britain... You must break the terror before you get peace.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Guildhall, London (9 November 1920), quoted in The Times (10 November 1920), p. 8
“We cannot have peace if we are only concerned with peace. War is not an accident. It is the logical outcome of a certain way of life. If we want to attack war, we have to attack that way of life. Disarmament cannot be achieved nor can the problem of war be resolved without being accompanied by profound changes in the economic order and the structure of society.”
A. J. Muste (1885–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Our Generation Against Nuclear War (1983) by Dimitrios I. Roussopoulos.
“A poet knows war without objective war in the world; it was conflict at the root of his mind that impelled him to the masking of these conflicts in the apparent resolution and order of works of art.In a dialectical sense, all poetry is war.”
Richard Eberhart (1904–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Everything is changed — for you. But it is still the same, too. The loneliness you feel has come to you because you are no longer a child. But the whole world has always been full of that loneliness. The loneliness does not come from the War. The War did not make it. It was the loneliness that made the War.”
William Saroyan (1908–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Someone must have known, but I never did. I have often wondered. It was the only way, you see, that a war could still be fought. No human could go to fight that kind of war. So man’s servants and companions, the machines, carried on the war. I don’t know why they kept on fighting. I have often asked myself. They’d destroyed all there’d ever been to fight for and there was not use of keeping on.”
Clifford D. Simak (1904–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Y]ou know, it's like you think the second world war is over ... [the] second world war is not over ... d'you understand what i'm telling you ... th'second world war is not over”
Charles Manson (1934–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The next war will perhaps be more humane than the previous one. But it will be disproportionate to man and humanity. By its dimensions it will be a war of gods, but a war waged by insignificant men for insignificant goals. Social progress will be; they too are insignificant. The last one, both in terms of its goals and its protagonists, was nevertheless significant. p. 127”
Alexander Zinoviev (1922–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't get that -- people going to war over religion. I don't know, I could see going to war over justice or democracy or even revenge. But if you're going to war over religion, now you're just killing people in an argument over who has the better imaginary friend.”
Richard Jeni (1957–2007) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: CC Presents: Richard Jeni, aired 5 May 2002.
“We are fully aware that war is not the only way to defend our values. But if those values are fundamentally endangered, as is the case today, then war is the only way to defend them. Everything that hinders us in our effort to defend ourselves is an injustice. We did not want this war, it was thrust upon us, like all others. Defending one's people is a holy duty,”
Ratko Mladić (1943–2026) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From interview with Robert Block, 1995
“Maybe we’ll get some use out of battleships in the next war after all.” He didn’t doubt there would be a next war; there would always be a next war.”
Harry Turtledove (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mr. Greenwood, when moving the Amendment yesterday, told us that the war would shake many strongly held views. I fear that this war will do very much more than that. The war will bring about changes which may be fundamental and revolutionary in the economic and social life of this country. On that we are all agreed.”
Anthony Eden (1897–1977) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the House of Commons (6 December 1939)
“An economic creed in an imperfect world must be at least equally adapted to the purposes of war as to the purposes of peace. ... when war came in 1914, what was the situation of this country? The free-trade system had wholly failed to equip the Government of this country with the many instruments which were absolutely vital for the purposes of conducting war.”
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead (1872–1930) first seen 1923 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Constitutional Club (20 November 1923), quoted in The Times (21 November 1923), p. 17
“If the war that comes is a nuclear conflict, the end of planetary life is probable. If it is a war with conventional weapons, bankruptcy is inevitable. Modern technological war is much too expensive to fight. Vietnam has bled our country at the rate of 2.5 billion dollars a month.”
William O. Douglas (1898–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We all know the extent of the hypocrisy which surrounds the War on Drugs; that it is, at essence, a Class War, or, if you will, a Race War, which criminalizes the undesirable elements of society – precisely the rationale behind the Marijuana Tax Act, which provided the legal ammunition to expel with those pesky Mexican immigrants in Texas and California back in the 1930s.”
Mark Pesce (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“History often repeats itself. For example, World War I and World War II. But rest assured that there are many people in all walks of life—likened to military officer Stanislav Petrov, activist Malala Yousafzai, and politician President Jimmy Carter—who are doing everything possible to prevent World War III.”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“for all their failings, anti-war movements should already have taught us one crucial lesson: that the passions we bring to war can be brought just as well to the struggle against war.”
Barbara Ehrenreich (1941–2022) said by 2022 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Before the war, it was said 'the United States are' - grammatically it was spoken that way and thought of as a collection of independent states. And after the war it was always 'the United States is', as we say today without being self-conscious at all. And that sums up what the war accomplished. It made us an 'is'.”
Shelby Foote (1916–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is not a political war at all. This is not a cultural war at all. This is a spiritual war. And the Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies, Satan, would have his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country, the United States of America.”
Rick Santorum (born 1958) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[The War on Terror is] not a war we started, it's a war we must finish, and it's tough when your enemies are psychopaths and your allies are the French”
Tom Tancredo (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[On the Iraq War, T]he greatest risk for us in invading Iraq is probably not war itself, so much as: What happens after we win? The risks of an invasion setting off reactions from a hideous civil war in Iraq to toppling regimes all over the Middle East is very real. Also at risk is the very international cooperation necessary to track Al Qaeda.”
Molly Ivins (1944–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't believe it can end. Now that I've seen what war is, what civil war is, I know that everybody, if one day it should end, ought to ask himself: "And what shall we make of the fallen? Why are they dead?" I wouldn't know what to say. Not now, at any rate. Nor does it seem to me that the others know. Perhaps only dead know, and only for them is the war really over.”
Cesare Pavese (1908–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish-American_War The Spanish-American War has been a splendid little war, begun with the highest motives, carried on with magnificent intelligence and spirit, favored by that Fortune that loves the brave. It is now to be concluded, I hope, with that fine good nature, which is, after all, the distinguishing trait of the American character.”
John Hay (1838–1905) first seen 1898 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From a 1898 letter to Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, quoted in Donald E. Schmidt's The Folly of War: American Foreign Policy, 1898-2005 (2005).
“Anyway, you learn a healthy respect for war, and I'm not happy with what's going on today. Uh, you know, our sterling President — um, I shouldn't get into this. Everybody's gonna kill me, but I'm not happy with him. I — I — if he had ever been in a war, he wouldn't have been so happy...so eager to send other people into war.”
James Garner (1928–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is literally true that the toleration of banks of paper discount costs the United States one-half their war taxes; or, in other words, doubles the expenses of every war. Now think but for a moment, what a change of condition that would be, which should save half our war expenses, require but half the taxes, and enthral us in debt but half the time.”
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) said by 1826 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This war is not only a military war, but also a life war. It renews the society, renews the culture, renews the spirit, renews the brain and politics. Every Kurd knows that this is his/her rebirth.”
Abdullah Öcalan (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Any president can start a war, and use the chaos of disorder that such a war creates as an indefinite argument for prolonging it. It's a war that keeps on giving. Failure means it's even more necessary to keep failing.”
Andrew Sullivan (born 1963) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Of Their Choosing", The Daily Dish (20 September 2007)
“The power structures cannot publicly recognize that the Vietnamese conflict is a civil war, because such an acknowledgement would reveal us as an aggressor intervening on a favored side in a civil conflict. In fact, America's intervention has transformed a civil war into a war of national liberation.”
Eldridge Cleaver (1935–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“to be “against war” has come to seem too easy a stance. War exists in a texture of possession and deprivation, economic and religious dogmas, racism, colonialist exploitation, nationalism, unequal power. Who decides to make war? Who is destroyed in it? Who creates the rhetoric of “terror” and “democracy”?”
Adrienne Rich (1929–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As to war itself, a direct preparation for actual hostilities, I must only repeat here what I have said elsewhere, that from the beginning of this story to the end of it I can see nothing whatever which furnishes a case for armed intervention... [A] war in South Africa—a war with one of the independent States in South Africa—would be one of the direst calamities that could occur.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (28 July 1899)
“War happens to people, one by one. That is really all I have to say and it seems to me I have been saying it forever. Unless they are immediate victims, the majority of mankind behaves as if war was an act of God which could not be prevented; or they behave as if war elsewhere was none of their business. It would be a bitter cosmic joke if we destroy ourselves due to atrophy of the imagination.”
Martha Gellhorn (1908–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter as quoted in Gellhorn: A Twentieth Century Life (2003) written by Caroline Moorehead.
“The moral consciousness can sustain the mocking gaze of the political man only if the certitude of peace dominates the evidence of war. Such a certitude is not obtained by a simple play of antitheses. The peace of empires issued from war rests on war. It does not restore to the alienated beings their lost identity. For that a primordial and original relation with being is needed.”
Emmanuel Levinas (1906–1995) first seen 1961 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Totality and Infinity (1961)
“War is waged by governmental action and war can be prevented only by actions of governments. This means that individuals must act as citizens and influence the behavior of governments if they are to be effective in preventing war.”
Kirby Page (1890–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Formerly when great fortunes were only made in war, war was a business; but now, when great fortunes are only made by business, business is war.”
Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) said by 1904 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“First let us rid our minds of the fallacy that guerrilla war is a wholly distinct thing in kind from regular war. It is nothing of the sort. War is a science whose fundamental principles are constant however wide or numerous the variations....”
Robert Erskine Childers (1870–1922) first seen 1910 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: War and the Arme Blanche", by Erskine Childers, Edward Arnold, (London, 1910), p. 231.
“We cannot have another world war. War is the wrong word. We should ban the term ‘World War III’ and say instead apocalypse or holocaust.”
Golo Mann (1909–1994) first seen 1985 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hamburg’s Die Zeit, August 30, 1985. cited in: The Watchtower, 2/15 1986.
“War is wrong. Conscription is a concomitant of modern war. Thus conscription for so vast an evil as war is wrong.”
Bayard Rustin (1912–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You cannot wage war with sentimentality. The more ruthlessly war is conducted, the more merciful is it in fact, for it finishes the war the sooner.”
Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remark (November 1914), Paul Dehn, Hindenburg, als Erzieher (1918), p. 12, quoted in W. W. Coole (ed.), Thus Spake Germany (London: George Routledge & Sons, 1941), p. 74
“Fundamentally, Britain is responsible for the war. She was jealous. British business men wanted this war. It is a British business war. ... We have no dislike for France, nor Russia. We think highly of the French. But Britain! We hate Britain!”
Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934) first seen 1915 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Senator Beveridge (March 1915), Paul Dehn, Hindenburg, als Erzieher (1918), p. 43, quoted in W. W. Coole (ed.), Thus Spake Germany (London: George Routledge & Sons, 1941), p. 174
“The Occasion of that Assembly was this; The Parliament which then was, (or the prevailing part of them,) were ingaged in a War with the King. ...The Issue of which War, proved very different from what was said to be at first intended. As is usual in such cases; the power of the sword frequently passing from hand to hand and those who begin a War, not being able to foresee where it wil end.”
John Wallis (1616–1703) said by 1703 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why did nations turn so often to war in the belief that it was a sharp and quick instrument for shaping international affairs when again and again the instrument had proved to be blunt or unpredictable? This recurring optimism is a vital prelude to war. Anything which increases the optimism is a cause of war. Anything which dampens that optimism is a cause of peace.”
Geoffrey Blainey (born 1930) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source