Famous quotes

Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide

English Italiano Polski עברית Français Português فارسی Español 中文 Русский Deutsch العربية हिन्दी 日本語 Ελληνικά Latina

War

Love Friendship Happiness Hope Fear Courage Death Life Time War Peace Freedom Truth Wisdom Knowledge Science Art Music Nature Money Work Power God Beauty Laughter Family Success and failure Change Dreams Books and reading

“war is utter destructive violent chaos. There is no "art," no "order(s)," no "just war." No matter what the ideologies, wars are the same. (sonshi)”
Maxine Hong Kingston (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Only in the constitutional way. I've had more than my share of war and have come to the conclusion that it doesn't resolve anything. Even the longest wars, lasting a hundred years, still end in peace talks. So why not talk right away and cut out the military fighting stage? There can't be a victor in the kinds of war they are waging now in the former Soviet Union, only throngs of defeated.”
Alexander Lebed (1950–2002) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Awaiting His Nation's Call: Russia's General Lebed" in TIME (27 February 1995)
“Nature knows no tragedies or catastrophes. It knows no good or evil. It knows only creation and destruction. and one can never truly be happy and free, in the way we were as children before learning of our mortality, without at some point confronting our destruction. And all we can ask for, all we can hope for, all we can beseech God for, is to win a few battles in a war we will ultimately lose.”
Neil Strauss (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[The Mac-Paps] covered the name of Canada with glory, from Jarama to the Ebro, in the greatest battles fought against fascism in the war.”
Tim Buck (1891–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why should Ossian sing of battles? For never more shall my steel shine in war. I remember the days of my youth with grief, when I feel the weakness of my arm. Happy are they who fell in their youth, in the midst of their renown! They have not beheld the tombs of their friends, or failed to bend the bow of their strength.”
James Macpherson (1736–1796) said by 1796 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Strike against war, for without you no battles can be fought. Strike against manufacturing shrapnel and gas bombs and all other tools of murder. Strike against preparedness that means death and misery to millions of human beings. Be not dumb, obedient slaves in an army of destruction. Be heroes in an army of construction.”
Helen Keller (1880–1968) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Strike Against War", speech in Carnegie Hall (5 January 1916)
“Realism isn't pessimism. And though the anti-reform interests have won an unconscionable number of battles over the last decade, the war is by no means over.”
John Ralston Saul (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Many causes produce war. There are ancient hatreds, turbulent frontiers, the "legacy of old forgotten, far-off things, and battles long ago." There are new-born fanaticisms. Convictions on the part of certain peoples that they have become the unique depositories of ultimate truth and right.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ever since [the Vietnam War], battles and massacres filmed as they unfold have been a routine ingredient of the ceaseless flow of domestic, small-screen entertainment.”
Susan Sontag (1933–2004) said by 2004 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let the president answer a higher anarchy, strap him with an AK-47 Let him go fight his own war, let him impress daddy that way No more blood for oil We got our own battles to fight on our own soil”
Eminem (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The battles are many, and the names used are varied. But the goal is one: a Crusader-Rafidite [Rafidites – Shiites, used derogatorily by Sunni extremists] war against the Sunnis.”
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (1966–2006) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi Declares "Total War" on Shiites, States that the Sunni Women of Tel'afar Had Their "Wombs Filled with the Sperm of the Crusaders" (September 2005).
“Each country whose frontiers are consumed by carnage is seen tearing from its heart ever more warriors of full blood and force. One's eyes follow the flow of these living tributaries to the River of Death. To north and south and west ajar there are battles on every side. Turn where you will, there is war in every corner of that vastness.”
Henri Barbusse (1873–1935) said by 1935 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In Europe itself it is not probable that war will ever absolutely cease until science discovers some destroying force so simple in its administration, so horrible in its effects, that all art, all gallantry, will be at an end, and battles will be massacres which the feelings of mankind will be unable to endure.”
William Winwood Reade (1838–1875) said by 1875 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some battles must be fought even though we know they may be lost, but in the overall picture they are essential to winning the war. :*from ‘’Tutti insieme appassionatamente, contro la mozione di Idv (All together passionately, against the Idv motion), May 28, 2009.”
Antonio Di Pietro (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The man who shouts wins battles; the quiet man wins the war.”
Robert Ferrigno (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Patience will benefit you in every hour, every time and every opportunity. It helps you to overcome your opponent, howsoever strong he may be. It will help you in times of distress and hardships, in battles and in war and peace.”
Abd al-Karim Qasim (1914–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The romantic notions of chivalry appear to have lost their vigour towards the conclusion of the fifteenth century, especially in this country, where a continued series of intestine commotions employed the exertions of every man of property, and real battles afforded but little leisure to exercise the mockery of war.”
Joseph Strutt (1749–1802) said by 1802 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Lose the battles to win the war. Ask for forgiveness. Acknowledge his presence. Don't make the mistake of ignoring him. His ease is your ease. If your attitude is resentful, he will bring thunder and lightning on your head and on the heads of your coworkers.”
John Hoover (consultant) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He did not succeed in 1814-16 war with the British, but the Thapas love him nonetheless because he tried so hard to control those pesky imperialists, overseeing military battles and negotiating treaties himself while trying to beat down Hodgson.”
Manjushree Thapa (born 1968) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Battles require courage. You cannot go to war while being assured that nothing dire will befall you. That’s the reality; there’s no way to mitigate the risk. Now, you don’t have to be a frivolous martyr! You could be strategic as to when to intervene, when not to intervene, how to frame it. In that sense, you can be strategic. But there’s no avoiding it.”
Gad Saad (born 1964) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gad Saad: The Post Millennial Interview (March 11, 2019)
“We have fought countless battles and we seemed to have sunk at times, but true to the word we believed we could make it, we rose above the barricades and the story is now told of how we made it and won the war.”
Tabitha Karanja (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He stared back at her, unconcerned. She had always marvelled at his calm assurance that everything good in his life would either remain the same or get better. He took good fortune for granted. As though it were impossible that it would abide only for a spell. She had never been able to shake the sense that life was war, a series of battles with the occasional spell of good things.”
Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ (born 1988) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.”
Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. (1934–2012) first seen 1991 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Barbara Walters (15 March 1991); also quoted in his memoir It Doesn't Take a Hero : General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the Autobiography (1992), p. xiii
“Why do I hear what I can't see? Why do I fear what I can be? I feel the field of battle within my life!I hear the calvalry of light! I see the sound of endless sight! I feel the field of battle within my life!It was a life that had no end A time of love with you, my friend Begin the age of love you know about!”
Becky Stark (born 1976) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: You Broke My Heart, One Day Like Rain video (2007) - live performance Siren Festival (2007)
“I am a musician's musician and am passionate about my sarangi. I shall continue my battle for the cause of the sarangi. I will be reborn to continue my sadhana until the battle is won.”
Ram Narayan (1927–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In a battle, as in a siege, the art consists in concentrating very heavy fire on a particular point. The line of battle once established, the one who has the ability to concentrate an unlooked for mass of artillery suddenly and unexpectedly on one of these points is sure to carry the day.”
Napoleon (1769–1821) said by 1821 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The issue of a battle is the result of an instant, of a thought. There is the advance, with its various combinations, the battle is joined, the struggle goes on a certain time, the decisive moment presents itself, a spark of genius discloses it, and the smallest body of reserves accomplish victory.”
Napoleon (1769–1821) said by 1821 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...the crucial Battle of Zamość, which is not stressed in most current histories because it involved a Polish-Russian battle in which the Poles won.”
James A. Michener (1907–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our every action is a battle cry against imperialism, and a battle hymn for the people's unity against the great enemy of mankind: the United States of America.”
Che Guevara (1928–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On the battlefield called Vigrid, the gods will fall in battle with the frost giants, and the frost giants will fall in battle with the gods.The undead troops from Hel will litter the ground in their final deaths, and the noble Einherjar will lie beside them on the frozen ground, all of the them dead for the last time, beneath the lifeless misty sky, never to rise again, never to wake and fight.”
Neil Gaiman (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Before battle was joined they say that someone from Trachis warned him how many Persians there were by saying that when they fired their bows, they hid the sun with the mass of arrows. Dianeces, so the story goes, was so dismissive of the Persian numbers that he calmly replied, "All to the good, my friend from Trachis. If the Persians hide the sun, the battle will be in shade rather than sunlight.”
Herodotus (484–425 BC) said by 425 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance.”
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852) first seen 1815 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to John Wilson Croker (8 August 1815), as quoted in The History of England from the Accession of James II (1848) by Thomas Babington Macaulay, Volume I Chapter 5, p. 180.; and in The Waterloo Letters (1891) edite…
“A great many people say that there is a great battle going on in the world: between Fascism and Communism. Fascism is represented as Capitalism in its ultimate and final form, when it controls the state wholly. Communism is represented as the final expression of democracy. But this theory was invented by fascists and communists. To a democrat, looking on, it seems like a sham battle.”
Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have had a tremendous battle over the past 12 months. Sterling is safe. That battle is won.”
James Callaghan (1912–2005) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (30 September 1965), quoted in The Times (1 October 1965), p. 16
“The hardest battle you’re ever going to fight is the battle to be just you.”
Leo Buscaglia (1924–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh, what is worth this lore of age If time shall never bring us back Our battle with the gods to wage Reeling along the starry track. The battle rapture here goes by In warring upon things that die.”
George William Russell (1867–1935) said by 1935 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The game is fun. The game is a battle. If it's not fun, why bother? If it's not a battle, where's the fun?”
Reggie Fils-Aimé (born 1961) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Source: E3 2017 Nintendo Spotlight
“At my arrival [in Paris], Fauvism. Cubism, and Futurism were in full swing. There was in the air the glamour of a battle, the holy battle raging for the assertion of a new truth. My youth plunged full in it.”
Joseph Stella (1877–1946) first seen 1911 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Joseph Stella (1911); Quoted in: Judith Zilczer (1983) Joseph Stella: : The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection, p. 10
“There was in the air the glamor of a battle, the holy battle raging for the assertion of a new truth. My youth plunged full in it.”
Joseph Stella (1877–1946) first seen 1850 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Joseph Stella (1911); Quoted in: Ruth L. Bohan. Looking into Walt Whitman: American Art, 1850–1920, (2006). p. 193
“We don't consider the battle has ended in Afghanistan.… The battle has begun and its fires are picking up. These fires will reach the White House, because it is the center of injustice and tyranny.”
Mohammed Omar (1960–2013) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Asharq al-Awsat, 16 May 2002
“To a very high degree the measure of success in battle leadership is the ability to profit by the lessons of battle experience.”
Lucian Truscott (1895–1965) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Command Missions, A Personal Story, New York, 1954,
“It is regrettable to spend one's life in a battle that ends with no victory nor defeat, to consume it in another battle that ends with a defeat, and in a third that ends with his victory over his brother.”
Salman al-Ouda (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think President Obama is the most radical president this nation's ever seen. And in particular, I think he is a true believer in government control of the economy and of our everyday lives. In my judgment, we are facing what I consider to be the epic battle of our generation, quite literally the battle over whether we remain a free market nation.”
Ted Cruz (born 1970) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Caroline May of The Daily Caller, after his announcement to run for U.S. Senate for the first time; in Caroline May, "Partier for Senate", The Daily Caller (June 6, 2011).
“The tectonic shifts that gave rise to Trumpism have been gathering force over the last six decades. Over that time, the left won the cultural battle and the right won the economic battle, and Trumpism is a reaction against both.”
Clive Hamilton (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We know that we are a main goal for the Iranian regime. We will not wait until the battle becomes in Saudi Arabia but we will work to have the battle in Iran rather than in Saudi Arabia”
Mohammed bin Salman (born 1985) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 2017-05-07
“In a racially diverse society, it makes sense to phase out state sanction for the battle flag — as South Carolina governor Nikki Haley advocated yesterday, in calling on the state legislature to vote for the removal of the battle flag that has been flying over the grounds of the state capitol...”
Victor Davis Hanson (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The spiritual battle is always the real battle”
Salvatore Cordileone (born 1956) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: ‘The Evil One Is at Work Here’: An Interview with Archbishop Cordileone (September 10, 2020)
“Those who are outside the institutions and are engaging in extra-institutional opposition should be pointed out to the people, because they are preparing a real coup d'état. [...] Redo your political battle, your value battle, if you are capable of it. Leave this shitty elite to their devious fate. I say this to the political left, to the decent one. To the one for evil, go and die killed.”
Renato Brunetta (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We underestimated the willingness of these peasants to pay the price. We won every set piece battle. Westy believes that he never lost a battle. We had absolute military superiority, and they had absolute political superiority, which meant that we would kill 200 and they would replenish them the next day. We were fighting the birth rate of a nation.”
David Halberstam (1934–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: David Halberstam, as quoted in Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam (2011) by Lewis Sorley, p. 96
“To ask us (Barbados) to continue carrying the battle against the backdrop of the (COVID-19) pandemic and not having contributed to the crisis to greenhouse gases is really unacceptable. We can't fight the pandemic or climate crisis from a national perspective. All of us have to cooperate globally, or we're not going to win this battle.”
Mia Mottley (born 1965) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mia Mottley (2021) cited in: "Prime Minister of Barbados discusses ongoing global climate crisis with Emory community" in The Emory Wheel, 9 December 2021.