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War

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“The war in Iraq is an American civil war by proxy. The real prize of this war is political power in the United States. If the US military wins, the Republicans win. If the US military loses, the Democrats win. We saw the exact same thing in Vietnam, and given that, in general, the Republicans are the Democrats' punching bag, the result is pretty inevitable.”
Curtis Yarvin (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Slavery was at the root of what the Civil War was all about. If there had been no slavery, there would have been no war, and that ultimately what the Confederacy was fighting for was to preserve a nation based on a social system that incorporated slavery. Had that not been the case, there would have been no war. That's an issue that a lot of Southern whites today find hard to accept.”
James M. McPherson (born 1936) first seen 1861 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: James M. McPherson "James McPherson: What They Fought For, 1861–1865" (22 May 1994), Booknotes, United States of America: National Cable Satellite Corporation. p.107
“In war, men lose what makes them great. Their creativity. Their wisdom. Their joy. All that's left is their utility. War is not monstrous for making corpses of men so much as it is for making machines of them. And woe to those who have no use in war except to feed the machines.”
Pierce Brown (born 1988) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Gabbard opposes what she calls a “genocidal war” in Yemen, and she is one of the few representatives, who has worked to pass a war powers resolution in the House to end U.S. military involvement since Congress never authorized the war.”
Kevin Gosztola (born 1988) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The reduction of class war to a mere military confrontation carries within it the logical conclusion that, if we undergo a military defeat on this terrain, the class war ceases to exist as such. From this we come to the not just theoretical but practical absurdity that in Italy today, after the defeat of the combatant organizations, there is no longer an actual class war.”
Alfredo M. Bonanno (1937–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A civil war is unfolding — one between forces hell-bent on exploiting animals and the earth for profit whatever the toll, and activists steeled to resist this omnicide tooth and nail. We are witnessing not only the long-standing corporate war against nature, but also a new social war about nature.”
Steven Best (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“…This play is not only about memory, but also a shout for freedom and a testimony to the inhumanity of war anywhere and at any time. Many of our artists and audience members have lived through the horrors of the war in El Salvador, the dirty little war in Argentina, and the long Chilean dictatorship, so this play speaks to them personally.”
Hugo Medrano first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On how the play ¡Ay, Carmela! might affect anyone who has lived through warfare in “An Interview with GALA Hispanic Theatre’s Hugo Medrano” in MD Theatre Guide (2011 Oct 8)
“What Putin came to power to do was to modernize Russia, and that does not involve a cold war with the West. Period. End of story. That’s his mission. He wants to go down in history as the man who did this. Cold war, not to mention hot war, is spoiling what he sees as his mission.”
Stephen F. Cohen (1938–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no justification for acts of rape. There is no justification for acts of massacre. Those are war crimes. But in certain conditions, expulsion is not a war crime. I don't think that the expulsions of 1948 were war crimes.”
Benny Morris (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Cold War could have produced a hot war that might have ended human life on the planet. But because the fear of such a war turned out to be greater than all of the differences that separated the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies, there was now reason for hope that it would never take place.”
John Lewis Gaddis (born 1941) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Cold War: A New History (2005)
“In Islam, a war is fought for the cause of Allah. A Muslim's cause of war is just, noble, righteous and humanitarian. A victory of Islam is a victory for the cause of Islam. So noble and humanitarian a cause cannot be allowed to be attained through inhuman undignified ways. Humanitarianism thus lies at the very heart of the Islamic approach to war.”
S. K. Malik (born 1930) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Generals usually know when a war is lost. The German generals had never been absolutely convinced that they could win World War II. They had only hoped to win it mainly because Hitler had promised them that the enemy armies would suffer amoral collapse and that they themselves would not have to fight a two-front war.”
Curt Martin Riess (1902–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The most horrific type of war would be an atomic war and certainly the way the world is heading there is a real risk of a nuclear war breaking out. To prevent such a horrific outcome, we should adopt justice, integrity and honesty and join together to suppress and stop those groups who wish to spread hatred and who wish to destroy the peace of the world.”
Mirza Masroor Ahmad (born 1950) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address at Houses of Parliament in London, UK on Centenary of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in UK, 11th June 2013
“Art transcends war. Art is the language of God and war is the barking of men. Beethoven is bigger than war.”
Fannie Hurst (1889–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Until today we have had a half war. I say, had we attacked North Vietnam with a classical war, had we bombed North Vietnam continuously, had we landed in North Vietnam, the war would be over by now.”
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (1923–2001) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Thieu Asks an Invasion of North If Paris Peace Negotiations Fail" in The New York Times (14 January 1973)
“We still need to work on summing up the final results on losses in the Great Patriotic War. In general, the announced figures of war victims from among Soviet citizens correspond to reality. Approximately 26.5 million people accounted for the total loss of life of our country in the war. Of these, 8.6 million are the death toll of military personnel.”
Makhmut Gareev (1923–2019) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Махмут Гареев: «За правду о войне не платят...»" (8 May 2015)
“Now, at more than any other point in recent history, the United Nations is being challenged. If the United Nations has any purpose, it is to prevent war, it is to condemn war, to stop war. That is our job here today. It is the job you were sent here to do – not just by your capitals, but by all of humanity.”
Linda Thomas-Greenfield (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No War Остановите войну, не верьте пропаганде, здесь вам врут. [Stop the war, don't believe the propaganda, here you are being lied to.] Russians against war”
Marina Ovsyannikova (born 1978) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sign in Russian and English held up during her protest during a nationwide broadcast (14 March 2022)
“Where it’s propaganda, it’s war. Where there is freedom of expression, people do not let the authorities start a war, a war like the one we see in the middle of Europe now.”
Dmitry Muratov (born 1961) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Propaganda has won – VG", Norway Posts English, from VG, 30 mai 2022
“On the 60th anniversary of the end of the war, I reaffirm my determination that Japan must never again take the path to war, reflecting that the peace and prosperity we enjoy today are founded on the ultimate sacrifices of those who lost their lives for the war against their will.”
Junichiro Koizumi (born 1942) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi" (15 August 2005)
“It is doubtful if a candid person, entirely unacquainted with the facts, who should read English history with an account of the seven years' war of the Revolution, and then read our American history of the same events, could believe that they related to the same events. The same may be said in reference to the historians of the Franco-German war or of our war of the Rebellion.”
Belva Ann Lockwood (1830–1917) said by 1917 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I want to colour over the bad memories of war on the walls, and if I colour over these bad memories, then I erase [war] from people’s minds. I want to make Afghanistan famous because of its art, not its war.”
Shamsia Hassani (born 1988) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Article (2014)
“the war on drugs is not a war on drugs; it’s a war on us.”
Carl Hart (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the period of World War I a tremendous onslaught was made against the IWW, the Socialists, all Progressives in our country. There was a very strong peace movement at that time. It was not like World War II, which was an anti-Fascist war.”
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In such a world all war would be civil war and we must hope that it will grow increasingly inconceivable. It has already become capable of such unlimited destruction and such fearful possibilities of uncontrollable and little understood "chain reactions" of all sorts that it would seem that no one not literally insane could decide to start an atomic war.”
Emily Greene Balch (1867–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Spanish Civil War was, in a sense, the war before the lights went out—the war that could have changed the course of European and world history if power actors had behaved in different ways.”
Helen Graham (historian) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In principle, we should not fight a war we are not prepared for, a war we are not sure of winning, a war of anger and attrition.”
Cui Tiankai (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think all of us understood the mission, that SAC certainly had priority over everything in all of our minds. I had served enough places and positions in those years to see that. SAC had the mission, really, to deter. We didn’t want war; we wanted to deter war, and the atomic force was going to deter the war.”
Leon W. Johnson (1904–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“U.S. imperialism is the most ferocious enemy confronting the people of the world. Since the war, it has made use of its economic strength, which was inflated during the war, to build up an unprecedented and colossal war machine, brandishing its nuclear weapons and carrying out frantic aggression everywhere in its attempt to dominate the whole world.”
Peng Zhen (1902–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“War is hell. War is unpredictable, difficult, dangerous—and usually (though not always) worse than its initiators expect when conflict begins. War has features that remain fairly similar from century to century, once you take a reflective perspective and look back on things.”
Michael E. O'Hanlon (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We called it a transformation in the situation and not a mere change of degree. We said that the war which was so far an imperialist war now became a people’s war because of the changed re-grouping of forces, changed prospects before the world (P- 49).”
Puran Chand Joshi (1907–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“War means the end of us all. Mankind is morally incapable of enduring another war, the horrors of which will surpass everything that has occurred hitherto. War would mean the end of Christian civilization.”
Pierre Laval (1883–1945) first seen 1934 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to a German visitor (25 September 1934), quoted in Geoffrey Warner, Pierre Laval and the Eclipse of France (1968), p. 60
“As every advance of Power is useful for war, so war is useful for the advance of power; war is like a sheep-dog harrying the laggard Powers to catch up their smarter fellows in the totalitarian race.”
Bertrand de Jouvenel (1903–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Everybody around me was going crazy about the war. I was under age- eighteen- but with as bad a case of war fever as the next fellow. Worse, probably. Because when America went into the war I'd made up my mind that for once I was going to do the same thing everybody else was doing.”
John L. Barkley (1895–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For Americans, war is almost all of the time a nuisance, and military skill a luxury like Mah-Jongg. But when the issue is brought home to them, war becomes as important, for the necessary period, as business or sport. And it is hard to decide which is likely to be the more ominous for the Axis—an American decision that this war is sport, or that it is business.”
Denis William Brogan (1900–1974) said by 1974 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They had a big thing about World War One, World War Two, and then they skipped right over to Vietnam... I don't understand that, because 54,000 Americans lost their lives in Korea... So your odds of getting killed in Korea are a hell of a lot greater [than in Vietnam]... And there's still eight thousand missing from the Korean War.”
William R. Charette (1932–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I learned long ago that, when anyone spoke of peace, be it man or machine, they meant war. Peace through war. Peace was the standard. It was the inert state of all things. You didn’t need to expend energy for peace. Only war.”
C. Robert Cargill (born 1975) first seen 1100 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Chapter 1100, “The Long Night In” (p. 99)
“You deceive your countrymen with words, in dissuading them from war, since under the name of peace you are bringing upon them slavery; for peace is procured by war, and they, accordingly, who would enjoy it long, ought to be trained to war. If therefore, my countrymen, you wish to be leaders of Greece, you must devote yourselves to the camp, not to the .”
Epaminondas (418–362 BC) said by 362 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Pre-war Poland lacked religious liberty. Post-war Poland was bent on securing it. Pre-war, no church save the Roman Catholic Church had had the right of registering births, marriages, and deaths. The Roman Catholic monopoly of religion was fundamentally undemocratic and morally unhealthy. Equality of all religions was the goal of the new Government of Poland.”
Hewlett Johnson (1874–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Civil war was fought and ended in less than three years. When the war started in 1967, General Gowon advocated for remobilisation to recall all those who retired, including those who fought the Second World War.”
Akilu Aliyu (1918–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“War, war is still the cry,--"war even to the knife!”
Lord Byron (1788–1824) said by 1824 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“My outlook on warfare is best illustrated by a cartoon I did some thirty-odd years ago of a soldier in an Italian foxhole reading about the Normandy invasion and observing to his buddy that: "The hell this ain't the most important hole in the world. I'm in it.”
Bill Mauldin (1921–2003) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mud & Guts : A Look at the Common Soldier of the American Revolution (1978) Foreword
“A soldier of the Legion lay dying in Algiers; There was lack of woman’s nursing, there was dearth of woman’s tears.”
Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton (1808–1877) said by 1877 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For a soldier I listed, to grow great in fame. And be shot at for sixpence a day.”
Charles Dibdin (1745–1814) first seen 1774 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letters (c. 1774).
“No doubt history will say that Eisenhower was a soldier. For my part, I will remember, above all, his goodness. He was a fundamentally good man who knew how to be loved by the Americans. I was fond of Ike.”
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A soldier's first duty is to obey, otherwise you might as well do away with soldiering.”
Albert Kesselring (1885–1960) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To Leon Goldensohn, February 4, 1946, from "The Nuremberg Interviews" by Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately - History - 2004 - Page 322.
“I am a soldier and I worked for the kaiser, under Ebert, Hindenburg, and Hitler, all the same way, for the past 44 years.”
Wilhelm Keitel (1882–1946) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To Leon Goldensohn, March 27, 1946, from "The Nuremberg Interviews" by Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately - History - 2004
“It isn't right to be obedient only when things go well; it is much harder to be a good, obedient soldier when things go badly and times are hard. Obedience and faith at such time is a virtue.”
Wilhelm Keitel (1882–1946) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To Leon Goldensohn, May 17, 1946, from "The Nuremberg Interviews" by Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately - History - 2004 - Page 166
“I surrendered my moral conscience to the fact that I was a soldier, and therefore a cog in a relatively low position of a great machine.”
Otto Ohlendorf (1907–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "Unspeakable: Facing Up to Evil in an Age of Genocide and Terror" - Page 92 - by Os Guinness - 2005.
“There can be fear only where there is duality. How can there be fear for one who experiences non-duality? Such a person is the most courageous of men. The courage of a soldier in the battlefield or of a dacoit is only Tamasic courage. It is not courage at all. It is only brutal ferocity born of hatred or jealousy. That Sattvic courage born of Wisdom of the Self alone is real courage.”
Swami Sivananda (1887–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source