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War

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• “This enemy attacked not just our people, but all freedom-loving people everywhere in the world. The United States of America will use all our resources to conquer this enemy. We will rally the world. We will be patient, we will be focused, and we will be steadfast in our determination. This battle will take time and resolve. But make no mistake about it: we will win.”

  George W. Bush (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Since September 11, an entire generation of young Americans has gained new understanding of the value of freedom and its cost and duty and its sacrifice. The battle is now joined on many fronts. We will not waver, we will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail. Peace and freedom will prevail. Thank you. May God continue to bless America.”

  George W. Bush (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.”

  George W. Bush (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Well, I'm reading about the battle of New Orleans right now. I've got an ecolectic [sic] reading list.”

  George W. Bush (born 1946) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Responding to questions about his current reading, in interview with Brian Williams of NBC News, (August 29, 2006)

• “...The battle against the Sunnis - Sunni extremists - some of them Saddamists, some of there are al Qaeda, but all of them aiming to try to drive the United States out of Iraq before the job is done.”

  George W. Bush (born 1946) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Press conference New York Times WZZM News WhiteHouse.gov (December 20, 2006)

• “'They can ta'k our lives but they can never ta'k our freedom!' Now there's a battle cry not designed by a clear thinker...”

  Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Referring to a statement in the movie Braveheart, at alt.fan.pratchett (11 January 1999)

• “There aren’t many prizes for second place in battle.”

  Larry Niven (born 1938) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The music at a wedding procession always reminds me of the music of soldiers going into battle.”

  Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) said by 1856 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: As quoted in The Cynic's Lexicon : A Dictionary of Amoral Advice (1984) by Jonathon Green

• “Are ye, two vultures sick for battle, Two scorpions under one wet stone, Two bloodless wolves whose dry throats rattle, Two crows perched on the murrained cattle, Two vipers tangled into one.”

  Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) first seen 1819 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Similes for Two Political Characters of 1819 (Published 1832), st. 4

• “Poets are the hierophants of an unapprehended inspiration; the mirrors of the gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present; the words which express what they understand not; the trumpets which sing to battle, and feel not what they inspire; the influence which is moved not, but moves. Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”

  Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) said by 1822 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I conceive that the Duke of Brunswick is as much fighting the Battle of the Crown of England as the Duke of Cumberland did at Culloden.”

  Edmund Burke (1729–1797) first seen 1792 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Letter to the Foreign Secretary, Lord Grenville (18 August 1792) during the War of the First Coalition against the French Republic, quoted in P. J. Marshall and John A. Woods (eds.), The Correspondence of Edmund Burke, …

• “We don't intend to turn the Republican Party over to the traitors in the battle just ended. We will have no more of those candidates who are pledged to the same goals of our opposition and who seek our support. Turning the party over to the so-called moderates wouldn't make any sense at all.”

  Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) said by 2004 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: As quoted in Exit with Honor: The Life and Presidency of Ronald Reagan (2015) by William E Pemberton. p. 64

• “Military and economic assistance has been a heavy burden on our citizens for a long time, and I recognize the strong pressures against it; but this battle is far from over, it is reaching a crucial stage, and I believe we should participate in it. We cannot merely state our opposition to totalitarian advance without paying the price of helping those now under the greatest pressure.”

  John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.”

  John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) first seen 1962 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Remarks at a Closed-circuit Television Broadcast on Behalf of the National Cultural Center (527)" (29 November 1962)

• “Almost anybody can learn to think or believe or know, but not a single human being can be taught to feel...the moment you feel, you're nobody-but-yourself.To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”

  E. E. Cummings (1894–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The incredible speed which Maximin exerted in his flight is much more celebrated than his prowess in the battle.”

  Edward Gibbon (1737–1794) said by 1794 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “This variety of objects will suspend, for some time, the course of the narrative; but the interruption will be censured only by those readers who are insensible to the importance of laws and manners, while they peruse, with eager curiosity, the transient intrigues of a court, or the accidental event of a battle.”

  Edward Gibbon (1737–1794) said by 1794 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Their shields are black, their bodies dyed. They choose dark nights for battle, and, by the dread and gloomy aspect of their death-like host, strike terror into the foe, who can never confront their strange and almost infernal appearance.”

  Tacitus (55–120) said by 120 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Let him not boast who puts his armor on As he who puts it off, the battle done. Study yourselves; and most of all note well Wherein kind Nature meant you to excel. Not every blossom ripens into fruit.”

  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “All is repose and peace, Untrampled lies the sod; The shouts of battle cease, It is the Truce of God! Rest, comrades, rest and sleep! The thoughts of men shall be As sentinels to keep Your rest from danger free. Your silent tents of green We deck with fragrant flowers; Yours has the suffering been, The memory shall be ours.”

  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home, Let him combat for that of his neighbours; Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome And get knock'd on the head for his labours. To do good to mankind is the chivalrous plan, And is always as nobly requited; Then battle for freedom wherever you can. And, if not shot or hang'd, you'll get knighted.”

  Lord Byron (1788–1824) first seen 1820 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Letter to Thomas Moore, 5 November 1820

• “For freedom's battle, once begun, Bequeath'd by bleeding sire to son, Though baffled oft, is ever won.”

  Lord Byron (1788–1824) said by 1824 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled, Scots, wham Bruce has aften led, Welcome to your gory bed Or to Victorie! Now's the day, and now's the hour; See the front o' battle lour! See approach proud Edward's power— Chains and slaverie!”

  Robert Burns (1759–1796) first seen 1794 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Scots Wha Hae, sts. 1, 2 (1794)

• “The panting breathless haste and vehemence of a man struggling in the thick of battle for life and salvation; this is the mood he is in!”

  Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “For he who fights and runs away May live to fight another day; But he who is in battle slain Can never rise and fight again.”

  Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) first seen 1761 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The Art of Poetry on a New Plan (1761), vol. ii. p. 147.

• “The first blow is half the battle.”

  Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) said by 1774 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “An army of trumpeters would give as great a strength to a cause, as this confederacy of tongue-warriors; who, like those military musicians, content themselves with animating their friends to battle, and run out of the engagement upon the first onset. No. 28. Monday, March 26, 1716”

  Joseph Addison (1672–1719) first seen 1716 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: No. 28. Monday, March 26, 1716

• “In glittering arms and glory dressed, High he rears his ruby crest. There the thundering strokes begin, There the press and there the din; Talymalfra's rocky shore Echoing to the battle's roar.”

  Thomas Gray (1716–1771) first seen 1764 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The Triumphs of Owen. A Fragment", from Mr. Evans's Specimens of the Welch Poetry (1764)

• “As for life, it is a battle and a sojourning in a strange land; but the fame that comes after is oblivion.”

  Marcus Aurelius (121–180) said by 180 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Also quoted by: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

• “In stationary warfare there are three things that all soldiers long for: a battle, more cigarettes, and a week's leave.”

  George Orwell (1903–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “[...] right now, when the Japs are planting their hatchets in our skulls, it seems like a hell of a time for us to smile and warble: “Brothers!” It is a rather flabby battle cry. If we want to win, we've got to kill Japs, whether it depresses John Haynes Holmes or not. We can get palsy-walsy afterward with those that are left.”

  Dr. Seuss (1904–1991) first seen 1942 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Commenting his patriotic editorial cartoon in 1942 in the New York newspaper PM. Source: Dr. Seuss Draws Anti-Japanese Cartoons During WWII, Then Atones with Horton Hears a Who!. For more context, see Dr. Seuss Goes to …

• “In battle...enemies can't break your spirit, only friends can. (p273)”

  Arundhati Roy (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The guerrilla fighter, who is general of himself, need not die in every battle. He is ready to give his life, but the positive quality of this guerrilla warfare is precisely that each one of the guerrilla fighters is ready to die, not to defend an ideal, but rather to convert it into reality.”

  Che Guevara (1928–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Each spilt drop of blood, in any country under whose flag one has not been born, is an experience passed on to those who survive, to be added later to the liberation struggle of his own country. And each nation liberated is a phase won in the battle for the liberation of one's own country.”

  Che Guevara (1928–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I saw the delicate bone structure of a hand; I saw the survivors of a battle sending out post cards. . . I saw the oblique shadow of some ferns on the floor of a hot-house; I saw tigers, emboli, bison, ground swells and armies; I saw all the ants in the world.”

  Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The Aleph" ["El Aleph"] (1945)

• “I never saw a more dreadful battle in my born days.”

  Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) said by 1616 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I believe in a religion that believes in freedom. Any time I have to accept a religion that won't let me fight a battle for my people, I say to hell with that religion.”

  Malcolm X (1925–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Any coward can fight a battle when he's sure of winning; but give me the man who has pluck to fight when he's sure of losing. That's my way, sir; and there are many victories worse than a defeat.”

  George Eliot (1819–1880) said by 1880 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “While we are laid on the battle plain, Drenched to the skin by the midnight rain, Pleasant dreams may thy slumber crown, As thou sinkest to rest amid silk and down : But shame beside thy pillow stand ! A German maid shall kiss thee not, A German song rejoice thee not, And German wine shall warm thee not ! He who has strength to wield a brand, Let him draw it now for his father-land !”

  Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) first seen 1835 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The London Literary Gazette (3rd January 1835) Versions from the German (First Series.) - 'The Gathering' — Koerner.

• “In battle or business, whatever the game, In law or in love, it is ever the same; In the struggle for power, or the scramble for pelf, Let this be your motto, — Rely on yourself! For, whether the prize be a ribbon or throne, The victor is he who can go it alone!”

  John Godfrey Saxe (1816–1887) said by 1887 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “When we are working at a difficult task and strive after a good thing, we are fighting a righteous battle, the direct reward of which is that we are kept from much evil. As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed.”

  Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) first seen 1877 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Quote from Vincent's letter to Theo, from Amsterdam, 30 May 1877; Dear Theo: the Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh;, ed. Irving Stone and Jean Stone (1995), p. 26

• “I feel a certain calm. There is safety in the midst of danger. What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? It will be a hard pull for me; the tide rises high, almost to the lips and perhaps higher still, how can I know? But I shall fight my battle, and sell my life dearly, and try to win and get the best of it.”

  Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) first seen 1881 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Letter to Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Thursday, 29 December 1881. p. 83; as cited in Dear Theo: the Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh (1995), edited by Irving Stone and Jean Stone -

• “The Lacedaemonians fought a memorable battle; they made it quite clear that they were the experts, and that they were fighting against amateurs.”

  Herodotus (484–425 BC) said by 425 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Come Congressmen, Senators, please heed the call Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall For he who gets hurt will be he who has stalled There’s a battle outside and it's ragin’.”

  Bob Dylan (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I spit on my life. Death in battle would be better for me than that I, defeated, survive.”

  Gautama Buddha (501–501 BC) said by 501 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Narrated 'Ali: When it was the day of the battle of Al-Ahzab (i.e. the clans), Allah's Apostle said, "O Allah! Fill their (i.e. the infidels') houses and graves with fire as they busied us so much that we did not perform the prayer (i.e. 'Asr) till the sun set.”

  Muhammad (571–632) said by 632 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Narrated 'Abdullah bin Abi Aufa: Allah's Apostle invoked evil upon the pagans on the ay (of the battle) of Al-Ahzab, saying, "O Allah! The Revealer of the Holy Book, the Swift-Taker of Accounts, O Allah, defeat Al-Ahzab (i.e. the clans), O Allah, defeat them and shake them.”

  Muhammad (571–632) said by 632 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Narrated Abu Musa: The Prophet said, "I saw in a dream that I waved a sword and it broke in the middle, and behold, that symbolized the casualties the believers suffered on the Day (of the battle) of Uhud. Then I waved the sword again, and it became better than it had ever been before, and behold, that symbolized the Conquest (of Mecca) which Allah brought about and the gathering of the believers.”

  Muhammad (571–632) said by 632 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Narrated Abu Bakra: During the battle of Al-Jamal, Allah benefited me with a Word (I heard from the Prophet). When the Prophet heard the news that the people of the Persia had made the daughter of Khosrau their Queen (ruler), he said, "Never will succeed such a nation as makes a woman their ruler.”

  Muhammad (571–632) said by 632 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The whole life of an American is passed like a game of chance, a revolutionary crisis, or a battle.”

  Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) said by 1859 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

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