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War

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“Every war, when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defence against a homicidal maniac.”
George Orwell (1903–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Between them these two books sum up our present predicament. Capitalism leads to dole queues, the scramble for markets, and war. Collectivism leads to concentration camps, leader worship, and war. There is no way out of this unless a planned economy can somehow be combined with the freedom of the intellect, which can only happen if the concept of right and wrong is restored to politics.”
George Orwell (1903–1950) first seen 1944 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Review of The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek and The Mirror of the Past by K. Zilliacus, reviewed in The Observer (9 April 1944).
“It is fashionable to say that all the causes we fought for have been defeated, but this seems to me a gross exaggeration. The fact that after six years of war we can hold a General Election in a quite orderly way, and throw out a Prime Minister who has enjoyed almost dictatorial powers, shows that we have gained something by not losing the war.”
George Orwell (1903–1950) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: London Letter to Partisan Review (15 ? August 1945)
“One of the most horrible features of war is that all the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.”
George Orwell (1903–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“War damages, the fabric of civilisation not by the destruction it causes (the net effect of a war may even be to increase the productive capacity of the world as a whole) nor even by the slaughter of human beings, but by the stimulated hatred and dishonesty.”
George Orwell (1903–1950) first seen 1944 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As I Please," Tribune (4 August 1944)
“The trouble is that once America goes off to war, it can't very well return without having fought one. If it doesn't find its enemy, for the sake of the enraged folks back home, it will have to manufacture one. Once war begins, it will develop a momentum, a logic and a justification of its own, and we'll lose sight of why it's being fought in the first place.”
Arundhati Roy (born 1961) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Algebra of Infinite Justice September 29, (2001) .
“Schön war ich auch, und das war mein Verderben.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) said by 1832 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For the first time in the history of the world, your young men are dying in a war that — despite all its horrors — is for them an experience of love. Do not betray them. Let them dictate their peace when the time comes! Let that peace reassemble them! This war is honorable; may their spiritual faith make peace as honorable.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944) said by 1944 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No proceeding is better than that which you have concealed from the enemy until the time you have executed it. To know how to recognize an opportunity in war, and take it, benefits you more than anything else. Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many. Discipline in war counts more than fury.”
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) said by 1527 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution. Nothing is of greater importance in time of war than in knowing how to make the best use of a fair opportunity wh…
“The nation state has never been associated with peace on earth. Its most powerful recommendation and record is, as a matter of fact, as a wager of war. The history of nation states is written around the dates of war, not peace, around arms and not arts. The organization of warfare without the coercive power of the nation state is simply unimaginable at the scale with which we have become familiar.”
Karl Hess (1923–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The last time I looked at September 11th, an American street was a war zone. There was a street in Virginia that was a war zone.”
John Ashcroft (born 1942) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement during a discussion with the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee in June 2003, as quoted in "Ashcroft wants powers expanded to fight terror" in The Washington Times (6 June 2003)
“Only rarely has the question been raised whether there was any justification for American victory in the Pacific war; and this issue, where faced at all, has been posed in the context of the cold war -- that is, was it wise to have removed a counterweight to growing Chinese power, soon to become "Communist" power?”
Noam Chomsky (born 1928) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The invasion of Iraq was simply a war crime. Straight-out war crime.”
Noam Chomsky (born 1928) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The little girl saw her first troop parade and asked, "What are those?" "Soldiers." "What are soldiers?" "They are for war. They fight and each tries to kill as many of the other side as he can." The girl held still and studied. "Do you know … I know something?" "Yes, what is it you know?" "Sometime they'll give a war and nobody will come.”
Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) first seen 1936 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The People, Yes" (1936)
“We are at war, and our security as a nation depends on winning that war.”
Condoleezza Rice (born 1954) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: opening statement to 9/11 Commission, May 19, 2004.
“Although the shooting war is over, we are in the midst of a cold war which is getting warmer.”
Bernard Baruch (1870–1965) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech before the Senate’s Special Committee Investigating the National Defense Program (1948)
“The first duty of the revolutionaries is to tell the truth. Fooling the people, promoting illusions, always brings the worst consequences, and I believe that the people should be warned against excessive optimism. How did the Red Army win the war? By telling the truth. How did the dictatorship lose the war? By deceiving the soldiers.”
Fidel Castro (1926–2016) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Camp Columbia, Havana (Jan. 8th, 1959), Fidel Castro Reader, pp. 133
“If there is anyone who still wonders why this war is being fought, let him look to Norway. If there is anyone who has any delusions that this war could have been averted, let him look to Norway; and if there is anyone who doubts the democratic will to win, again I say, let him look to Norway.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) first seen 1942 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Washington Navy Yard (16 September 1942)
“This war [in Vietnam] has been marked by so many lies and evasions... that it is not right to have the war end with one last lie.”
Donald Rumsfeld (1932–2021) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In April 1975, as quoted in "How 'Vice' Explains Trump's Appeal" (6 January 2019), by Matt Latimer, POLITICO
“What we are seeing is not the war in Iraq. What we're seeing is slices of the war in Iraq.”
Donald Rumsfeld (1932–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“During the '70s, when the Cold War was still on, we invited Voznesensky and Yevtushenko to come here. We had very large readings for them. It was a way of kind of culturally thawing the Cold War.”
Nancy Peters (born 1936) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: And the beat goes on", San Francisco Chronicle, 2003-06-09.
“Everybody's at war with different things... I'm at war with my own heart sometimes.”
Tupac Shakur (1971–1996) said by 1996 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every war waged by imperialist powers will be an imperialist war whatever the excuses put forward; therefore we must keep out of it.”
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) first seen 1936 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At the Lucknow session of the Congress in April 1936, in his presidential address. Quoted from Elst, Koenraad (2018). Why I killed the Mahatma: Uncovering Godse's defence. New Delhi : Rupa, 2018.
“What caused the war? The greed of the Italian money bags and capitalists, who need new markets and new achievements for Italian imperialism. What kind of war was it? A perfected, civilised blood bath, the massacre of Arabs with the help of the “latest” weapons.”
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) first seen 1912 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The End of the Italo-Turkish War" in Pravda, No. 129 (28 September 1912); Collected Works, Vol. 18.
“It is not the business of socialists to help the younger and stronger robbers. Socialists must take advantage of the struggle between the robbers to overthrow all of them. To be able to do this, socialists must first of all tell the people the truth, namely, that this war is, in three respects, a war between slave-holders with the aim of consolidating slavery.”
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Socialism and War (1914), The Lenin Anthology
“The government considers it the greatest of crimes against humanity to continue this war over the issue of how to divide among the strong and rich nations the weak nationalities they have conquered, and solemnly announces its determination immediately to sign terms of peace to stop this war on the terms indicated, which are equally just for all nationalities without exception.”
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) first seen 1917 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Report on Peace (8 November 1917), Lenin's Collected Works, Vol. 26.
“No mercy for these enemies of the people, the enemies of socialism, the enemies of the working people! War to the death against the rich and their hangers-on, the bourgeois intellectuals; war on the rogues, the idlers and the rowdies!”
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) first seen 1917 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: How to Organise Competition?" (27 December 1917); Collected Works, Vol. 26, pp. 411, 414.
“In our attitude towards the war, which under the new government of Lvov and Co. unquestionably remains on Russia's part a predatory imperialist war owing to the capitalist nature of that government, not the slightest concession to “revolutionary defencism” is permissible.”
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I loved when Bush came out and said, "We are losing the war against drugs." You know what that implies? There's a war being fought, and the people on drugs are winning it.”
Bill Hicks (1961–1994) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Just for Laughs Comedy Festival (1990)
“Those guys [in the Persian Gulf War] were in hog heaven, man. They had a weapons catalog, "What's G-12 do, Tommy?" "Says here it destroys everything but the fillings in their teeth, helps pay for the war effort." Well, shit, pull that one up!" "Pull up G-12, please." [sound of a missile launch, several beats, then an explosion]] "...Cool. What's G-13 do?”
Bill Hicks (1961–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[on the Gulf War] I was in the unenviable position of being for the war, but against the troops.”
Bill Hicks (1961–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The war [World War 1.] is founded on a glaring mistake, men have been confused with machines.”
Hugo Ball (1886–1927) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: his remark after witnessing the invasion of Belgium by the German armies, in the start of World War 1. in 1914
“History teaches us that war is not inevitable. Once again, it is for us to choose whether we use war or some other method of settling the ordinary and unavoidable conflicts between groups of men.”
Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) first seen 1936 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: What Are You Going To Do About It? The case for constructive peace (1936)
“All war propaganda consists, in the last resort, in substituting diabolical abstractions for human beings. Similarly, those who defend war have invented a pleasant sounding vocabulary of abstractions in which to describe the process of mass murder.”
Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) first seen 1936 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pacifism and Philosophy" (1936)
“Liberty, as we all know, cannot flourish in a country that is permanently on a war footing, or even a near war footing. Permanent crisis justifies permanent control of everybody and everything by the agencies of central government.”
Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“War's very object is victory, not prolonged indecision. In war there is no substitute for victory.”
Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“War is the remedy our enemies have chosen. Other simple remedies were within their choice. You know it and they know it, but they wanted war, and I say let us give them all they want; not a word of argument, not a sign of let up, no cave in till we are whipped or they are.”
William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891) said by 1891 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against these terrible hardships of war. They are inevitable, and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home, is to stop the war, which can only be done by admitting that it began in error and is perpetuated in pride.”
William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891) said by 1891 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Black with hate,” said Becca. “You are gathering your people with hate.” “Can you imagine conducting a war with love?” asked Ta-Kumsaw. “That’s a reason to refuse to make war at all,” she said gently.”
Orson Scott Card (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have no fear of war,” said Arthur Stuart. “That’s when kings get to show their mettle.” “You’re thinking of chess,” said Margaret. “In war, everyone has their chance to bleed.”
Orson Scott Card (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The war against war is going to be no holiday excursion or camping party. The military feelings are too deeply grounded to abdicate their place among our ideals until better substitutes are offered than the glory and shame that come to nations as well as to individuals from the ups and downs of politics and the vicissitudes of trade.”
William James (1842–1910) said by 1910 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So long as antimilitarists propose no substitute for war's disciplinary function, no moral equivalent of war, analogous, as one might say, to the mechanical equivalent of heat, so long they fail to realize the full inwardness of the situation.”
William James (1842–1910) said by 1910 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is probable that fascism will continue to prefer this kind of war to actual open warfare as long as possible, for a real war would soon reveal the important role which lies and deception play in the “totalitarian state.”
Thomas Mann (1875–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is amusing to recall that we fought the Revolution in defense of the rights of man, and the Civil War to abolish slavery, and we have now gone back on both principles. The more I see of people, the more I regret that I survived the war.”
George S. Patton (1885–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich.”
Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Achtung! Vorurteile (2003); original German: "Der Terrorismus, der im furchtbaren 11. September kulminierte, ist ein Krieg der Armen gegen die Reichen. Der Krieg ist ein Terrorismus der Reichen gegen die Armen." typical…
“When I got back from the war in 1946 people didn't want the Mr. Smith kind of movie any more, and I refused to make war pictures.”
Jimmy Stewart (1908–1997) first seen 1970 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On how he started doing westerns, as quoted in "Innocent Revisited" in TIME magazine (29 June 1970)
“Years ago when I left college, I went to war. And I learned in war the price that is paid when diplomacy fails. And I made a decision that if I ever was lucky enough to be in a position to make a difference, I would try to do so.”
John Kerry (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“War is now a form of TV entertainment, and what made the First World War so particularly entertaining were two American inventions, barbed wire and the machine gun.”
Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We cannot forget what Lenin said about our great construction, which in large part depends on our succeeding in delaying the war with the capitalist countries. This war is inevitable, but it can be delayed until the proletarian revolution ripens in Europe, or until the colonial revolutions break out, or, finally, until the capitalists fight among themselves for the division of the colonies.”
Joseph Stalin (1878–1953) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the XV Congress of the PCUS (b) 2-19 December 1927; quoted by Carlo Sforza the 11 July 1950 in the Chamber of Deputies.
“The law of socialism is that of the desert: a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye. Socialism is a rude and bitter truth, which was born in the conflict of opposing forces and in violence. Socialism is war, and woe to those who are cowardly in war. They will be defeated.”
Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) first seen 1912 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Il Duce: The Life and Work of Benito Mussolini, L. Kemechey, New York: NY, Richard R. Smith (1930) p. 56. Written just before taking editorship of the Italian Socialist Party newspaper Avanti in 1912.