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War

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“Armies usually aren't interested in wars. They like preparation for war. But they have an understandable reluctance to fight a war. So I think if you look at, at least the history that I know, it's usually the civilian leadership who is pushing the military to do something. It was the case in the early days of the Vietnam War.”
Noam Chomsky (born 1928) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview by Hugh Gusterson, November 2000 .
“The Socialist Intervention. We Socialists who were in favour of intervention advocated war, because we divined that it contained within it the seeds of revolution. It is not the first instance of revolutionary war. There were the Napoleonic wars, the war of 1870, the enterprises of Garibaldi, in which, had we lived in those days, we should have joined in the same spirit and same faith.”
Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) first seen 1917 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To the Complete Vanquishing of the Huns” speech delivered at Sesto San Giovanni (1 December 1917) p. 27
“Politics can be defined as limited warfare. For example, you can see a democratic election as a form of civil war, in which both sides agree to settle the conflict by simply counting soldiers. While this is a long way from a war in which tank battles are legitimate but poison gas is not, the principle is the same, and no qualitative line can be drawn between the two.”
Curtis Yarvin (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Winter is coming, and it will be hard. What we see now is a grinding war of attrition. This is a battle of wills and a battle of logistics. Therefore, we must sustain our support for Ukraine for the long term, so that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent nation.”
Jens Stoltenberg (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wherever death may surprise us, let it be welcome, provided that this, our battle cry, may have reached some receptive ear and another hand may be extended to wield our weapons and other men be ready to intone the funeral dirge with the staccato singing of the machine-guns and new battle cries of war and victory.”
Che Guevara (1928–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The bottom line is this is not a war we want to get into. We can win the battle of Iraq, but that is not the war. It's not a war that can be won in the traditional sense. If we succeed in ousting Saddam Hussein, what then? Who is going to run Iraq afterwards? We cannot do it. The country is a mish mash of factions who hate each other.”
Jim Rogers (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: 占·羅傑斯 (zh)
“And I knew that all along when I started praying over a year ago over it. And this just seemed to be the battle that I needed to go to war with. And I need warriors to stand beside me. You know, this is a war of ideology, a war of thoughts and of faith. And we need people to really stand for faith and trust, not hope and change.”
Sharron Angle (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was born in 1979 when my country was already at war… It’s 2008 now, and Chad is still at war. I was actually in N’Djamena during a fierce battle in February of this year and I can tell you that war is completely and utterly terrible. I saw it firsthand with my own eyes. It’s only when we get peace in my homeland that we’ll be able to start building for the future.”
Mounira Mitchala (born 1979) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“War is not a courtesy but the most horrible thing in life; and we ought to understand that, and not play at war. We ought to accept this terrible necessity sternly and seriously. It all lies in that: get rid of falsehood and let war be war and not a game. As it is now, war is the favourite pastime of the idle and frivolous.”
Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) said by 1910 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A nice war is a war where everybody who is heroic is a hero, and everybody more or less is a hero in a nice war. Now this war is not at all a nice war.”
Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) first seen 1943 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement about World War II (written in 1943), p. 77
“We need to decide that we will not go to war, whatever reason is conjured up by the politicians or the media, because war in our time is always indiscriminate, a war against innocents, a war against children. War is terrorism, magnified a hundred times.”
Howard Zinn (1922–2010) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Old Way of Thinking", in The Progressive (November 2001)
“Pat Buchanan likes to say we're in a culture war. The Civil War was a culture war, and brothers killed brothers. I wonder if they avoided dinner conversation about politics. What if this culture war turned into a real war? I'd look back on that dinner and wish that I'd ordered a side of argument.”
Ze Frank (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In all the talk of who was responsible for the war, don't forget that Germany, who ostensibly went to war with Russia only because she was Austria's ally, was as a matter of fact at war with Russia on August 1, when Austria was still discussing with Russia in a friendly way. It was not till 5 days later that Russia and Austria were at war, and had they been left alone there would have been no war.”
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon (1862–1933) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Cecil Spring-Rice (18 September 1914), quoted in G. M. Trevelyan, Grey of Fallodon; Being the Life of Sir Edward Grey afterwards Viscount Grey of Fallodon (1937), p. 248
“War is method. War is atrocity. War is wholesale falsehood. War is the practice of military necessity. War is the utter denial of the spirit and example of Jesus.”
Kirby Page (1890–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“People say the Vietnamese won the war. They did not win the war, the U.S. won the war, just by leaving and starving them to death. You don’t say somebody won the war in a medieval town which is under constant siege. Until the U.S. is certain that the Vietnamese lost the war, until they’re absolutely certain that their condition is totally hopeless, we’re not gonna help them. (2000)”
Grace Paley (1922–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Liberty is not about class war, income war, race war, national war, a war between the sexes, or any other conflict apart from the core conflict between individuals and those who would seek power and control over the human spirit. Liberty is the dream that we can all work together, in ways of our choosing and of our own human volition, to realize a better life.”
Jeffrey Tucker (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The problem is the war. If we integrate Ukraine into the European Union, we would integrate the war. And we would not like to be together in one community with a country who is in war and represent an imminent danger to us. Because if a member of the European Union is in war, it means that the European Union is war and we don't like it.”
Viktor Orbán (born 1963) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: When questioned about the integration of Ukraine into the European Union by reporters in English ahead of the European Council summit in Brussels (June 26, 2025)."Hungary opposes Ukraine's EU membership, says it would m…
“The tragedy of the War is now to be followed by the greater tragedy of peace. The ostensible plea for the War as a struggle for the freedom of small nations now becomes clear as a War of Imperialism. The War for the so-called democratisation of Germany has now turned into a War for the crushing of the rising working class of Europe.”
Arthur MacManus (1889–1927) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fourteen Points, Halifax Division of the Socialist Labour Party, (1918)
“Jus ad bellum, established in the UN Charter after World War II, lays out the conditions under which states may resort to war. It’s how you go to war justly. Once the firing starts, modern countries are directed to follow the “laws of war,” referred to as Jus in bello. This is how you fight war justly. It was supposed to be a global remedy—a rulebook—to end senseless violence.”
Pete Hegseth (born 1980) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The ardents who passed through town were careful to explain that the Calling of a farmer was a noble one, one of the highest save for the Calling of a soldier. Kal’s father whispered under his breath that he saw far more honor in feeding the kingdom than he did in fighting and dying in useless wars.”
Brandon Sanderson (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As a Special-Forces commander, Sharon was on the front—and in front of his men — performing daring assaults that saved Israel in both the 1967 and 1973 wars. Hated though he was abroad, Sharon was, nevertheless, a soldier in the style of 'Stonewall' Jackson, not Dubya the Deserter, to whom he and the Likudniks were often compared.”
Ilana Mercer first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Soldier in the Style of 'Stonewall' Jackson", WorldNetDaily.com, January 16, 2014.
“Wars will remain while human nature remains. I believe in my soul in cooperation, in arbitration; but the soldier’s occupation we cannot say is gone until human nature is gone.”
Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893) first seen 1890 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Diary (11 August 1890)
“Such a stupid act. Sometimes heroics revolted him; they seemed like an insult to the soldier who weighed the risks of the situation and made calm, cunning decisions based on experience and imagination, the sort of unshowy soldiering that didn’t win medals but wars.”
Iain Banks (1954–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Who does i' the wars more than his captain can Becomes his captain's captain; and ambition, The soldier's virtue, rather makes choice of loss, Than gain which darkens him.”
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) said by 1616 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“You're the soldier girl who tells the other troops who haven't fought the battle what it's like so they can fight it better.”
Anastacia (born 1968) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Anastacia: Speaks frankly about her new body, finding love again and using her voice to inspire other, Hello Magazine, April 14, 2014.
“Mahomet was a great man, an intrepid soldier; with a handful of men he triumphed at the battle of Bender [sic]; a great captain, eloquent, a great man of state, he revived his fatherland and created a new people and a new power in the middle of Arabia.”
Napoleon (1769–1821) said by 1821 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Napoleon I of France in Précis des guerres de César, Gosselin, 1836, edited by Comte Marchand, p. 237. This work was written by Napoleon during his exile on St. Helena. Translated by Ziad Elmarsafy in The Enlightenment …
“Muhammad was a great man, an intrepid soldier; with a handful of men he triumphed at the battle of Bender (sic); a great captain, eloquent, a great man of state, he revived his fatherland and created a new people and a new power in the middle of Arabia.”
Napoleon (1769–1821) first seen 1817 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement of 1817 quoted in Précis des guerres de César, écrit à Sainte-Hélène sous la dictée de l'empereur (1836) edited by Comte Marchand, p. 237. This work was written by Napoleon during his exile on St. Helena. Tran…
“Dark night, Oh terrible is thy shadow on the battle ! Blows dealt alike on friend and foe, the dead , And dying trampled on— oh, day alone Should look upon the soldier's deeds !”
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) first seen 1823 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (1st February 1823) The Cadets. An Indian Sketch
“Anglican chaplains were remarkably out of touch with their troops. The Second Battalion chaplain, just before the Loos fighting, had preached a violent sermon on the Battle against Sin, at which one old soldier behind me had grumbled: "Christ, as if one bloody push wasn't enough to worry about at a time!”
Robert Graves (1895–1985) said by 1985 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The artist who parades his drawing, the writer who wishes to attract praise to his style, resemble the soldier who plumes himself on his unif onn but refuses to go into battle, or the farmer who polishes the ploughshare instead of driving it into the earth.”
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) said by 1917 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“General, I have been a soldier all my life. I have been with soldiers engaged in fights by couples, by squads, companies, regiments, divisions, and armies, and should know, as well as any one, what soldiers can do. It is my opinion that no fifteen thousand men ever arranged for battle can take that position.”
James Longstreet (1821–1904) said by 1904 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in General James Longstreet: The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier: A Biography (1993), by Jeffry D. Wert, New York: Simon & Schuster, p. 283
“Of great bodily and mental mobility—which, however, is often enough increased to a continuous restlessness—the French soldier is indefatigable and persevering in battle, as well as in hard work of all kinds.”
Friedrich von Waldersee (1795–1864) first seen 1861 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted by Friedrich Engels in Waldersee über die französische Armee, 1861
“The French soldier follows his officers eagerly and willingly into battle, but only so long as these officers are in front of him, and literally lead him on.”
Friedrich von Waldersee (1795–1864) first seen 1861 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted by Friedrich Engels in Waldersee über die französische Armee, 1861
“Our breasts are walls when the clarion with its sound summons us to battle to defend the nation. The proceres bequeathed us this sovereign soil, the Paraguayan flag will not fall from our hands, the Chaco is sacred soil, each soldier swears it and the invader suffers it.”
José Félix Estigarribia (1888–1940) said by 1940 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Killing is murder; plundering is thievery; destroying another's property is criminal. Yet for the soldier killing is essential, plundering is standard practice, destroying property is "winning the battle.”
Garry Davis (1921–2013) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: VALUES (Aug, 1956) THE VOICE OF HUMANITY
“After [the battle of the Somme], the German soldier wore the steel helmet, and in his features, there were chiseled the lines of any energy stretched to the utmost pitch, lines that future generations will perhaps find as fascinating and imposing as those of many heads of classical or Renaissance times.”
Ernst Jünger (1895–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every soldier outside Moscow knew that this was a battle for life or death. ... In 1941 the choice for the Germans was only to hold fast or to be annihilated.”
Günther Blumentritt (1892–1967) first seen 1941 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Eastern Front (Winter 1941). Cited in Seymour Freiden and William Richardson (eds.) The Fatal Decisions (1956)
“Those who were in Germany in September 1939 know that the people showed no enthusiasm for war. But war nevertheless came and demanded sacrifice after sacrifice. The German soldier fought with unsurpassed devotion to duty. The people and the armed forces marched shoulder to shoulder, in victory or defeat, to the very end.”
Karl Dönitz (1891–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The soldier is applauded who refuses to serve in an unjust war by those who do not refuse to sustain the unjust government which makes the war; is applauded by those whose own act and authority he disregards and sets at naught; as if the state were penitent to that degree that it hired one to scourge it while it sinned, but not to that degree that it left off sinning for a moment.”
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) said by 1862 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Soldier, there is a war between the mind And sky, between thought and day and night. It is For that the poet is always in the sun, Patches the moon together in his room To his Virgilian cadences, up down, Up down. It is a war that never ends.”
Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“At present, I am a poet trying to be a soldier. To tell the truth, I am not interested in writing nowadays, except in so far as writing is the expression of something beautiful … The only sort of book I care to write about the war is the sort people will read after the war is over — a century after it is over.”
Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A letter home, included in Joyce Kilmer, Poems, Essays and Letters (1918) edited by Robert Holliday
“The bottom line in the Civil War, after all is said and done, showed that every Confederate state was a slave state and every free state was a Union state. These facts were not a coincidence, and every Civil War soldier knew it.”
James M. McPherson (born 1936) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: North & South Magazine (January 2008), Vol. 10, No. 4, p. 59
“No one underestimated Jap: he might be a subhuman creature who tortured and starved prisoners of war to death, raped women captives, and used civilians for bayonet practice, but there was no braver soldier in the whole history of war, and if he fought to a finish...”
George MacDonald Fraser (1925–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am skeptical about preventing wars. I doubt if they can be prevented. There will always be wars. Judging by past experiences, working for peace now would be as ineffective as ever. It's a law of nature.”
Wilhelm Frick (1877–1946) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To Leon Goldensohn, March 10, 1946, "The Nuremberg Interviews" by Leon Goldensohn - History - 2007
“Sociologists and historians have avoided looking for the family sources of wars and social violence. Whenever a group produces murderers, the early parental relationship must have been abusive and neglectful. Yet this elementary truth has not even begun to be considered in historical research; just stating that poor mothering lies behind wars seems blasphemous.”
Lloyd deMause (1931–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Those who start wars never fight them, and those who fight wars never like them.”
Michael Franti (born 1966) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Time to Go Home, Yell Fire! (2006)
“If America busies itself not with elective wars, but with commerce, the shift in power and prestige will be away from politicians who prosecute wars, and back to The People who produce prosperity.”
Ilana Mercer first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Donald, Don’t Let Fox News Roger America… Again,”LewRockwell.com, September 25, 2015.
“We had more church after supper, with a long sermon from Reverend Beelson. He talked about wars and earthquakes and floods as signs that the End was coming. Which made me wonder if he had somehow managed to not notice that wars, earthquakes, and floods have been going on since the beginning of history. But I didn’t say anything. It wasn’t worth the effort.”
Jane Yolen (1939–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The German air offensives against British cities in World Wars I and II not only failed to coerce the United Kingdom to surrender, but Germany also lost both wars.”
John Mearsheimer (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nathan Baca: You are literally staying silent about the two wars that we're in right now. Sharron Angle: You know, the two wars that we're in right now, is exactly what we're in.”
Sharron Angle (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source