Famous quotes
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“I would have loved to do certain things differently but no regrets. At the beginning I fought all battles that came my way, but with hindsight, I’ve realised that not all battles are worth fighting because you will just dissipate energy on needless battles. Don’t ask me for an example of such battles; they are personal and may cause embarrassment to some people.”
Adenike Osofisan (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains, And the women come out to cut up what remains, Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains An' go to your Gawd like a soldier. Go, go, go like a soldier, Go, go, go like a soldier, Go, go, go like a soldier, So-oldier of the Queen!”
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) said by 1936 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No man was ever a good soldier but the man who goes into the battle determined to conquer, or not to come back from the battle field (cheers). No other principle makes a good soldier.”
Daniel O'Connell (1775–1847) said by 1847 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was reminded as I was reviewing my life, that I have been in too many conflicts, too many wars, political battles, military battles, civil strifes in government. And always one lesson stands out and that is, those whom you fight most passionately often turn out to be your best friends.”
Ferdinand Marcos (1917–1989) first seen 1980 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Extemporaneous speech at the Sixth Centennial Celebration of Islam in the Philippines (10 June 1980)
“Killing Japanese didn't bother me very much at that time... I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal.... Every soldier thinks something of the moral aspects of what he is doing. But all war is immoral and if you let that bother you, you're not a good soldier.”
Curtis LeMay (1906–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fighting wars is not so much about killing people as it is about finding things out. The more you know, the more likely you are to win a battle. Take the AEGIS system in the navy. It's a radar computer system for air-battle management. What it does is give the commander an extra 15 minutes to decide what he's going to do to fight a battle, and those 15 minutes are decisively important.”
Tom Clancy (1947–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Senran Kagura]’s an intense, fiery battle. There are also sexy elements. But speaking personally, I get to voice Asuka in each release in the series. As Homura’s best friend, we get to experience these battles as they unfold. This is a story with a lot of heart. That’s why these battles are important.”
Hitomi Harada (born 1987) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hitomi Harada Talks About Senran Kagura Estival Versus", NicheGamer.com (22 February 2015).
“Giant slayers don’t waste weapons on ants...when God places his oil on you, you choose your battles. Choose your battles. It is not every battle you fight.”
Nana Aba Anamoah (born 1978) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: , Adomonline.com (January 20, 2020)
“There is a battle shaping up in the world – a battle between the forces of archy – of statism, of political rule and authority – and its only alternative – anarchy, the absence of political rule. This battle is the necessary and logical consequence of the battle between individualism and collectivism, between liberty and the state, between freedom and slavery.”
Roy Childs (1949–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I commit myself… (to the battle of) Yarmouk, the decisive gates of the land of Levant, and the decisive battle of Nahawand.... the gates of Persia for the Muslim..." Zubayr ibn Awwam reciting poem about the battle of Yarmouk and the battle of Nahavand before fighting in the Siege of Heliopolis,”
Zubayr ibn al-Awwam (594–656) said by 656 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And the worst part about making a soldier of a man is not that a soldier kills brown men or white men, but that the soldier loses his own soul.”
Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) said by 1915 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was in the hospital, and a soldier in the bed beside me asked: "Why do our soldiers have only one rifle for two or three of our men, when the Germans have automatics?" So I designed one. I was a soldier, and I created a machine gun for a soldier. It was called an Avtomat Kalashnikova, the automatic weapon of Kalashnikov — AK — and it carried the date of its first manufacture, 1947.”
Mikhail Kalashnikov (1919–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Then - being in two minds - in my father's courtyard, I counted the buttons of my coat: soldier or painter, soldier, painter, soldier, painter.. ..the last button told me: painter. So it was decided by chance that I would become a painter [c. 1831].”
Johannes Warnardus Bilders (1811–1890) first seen 1831 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: version in original Dutch (citaat van Johannes Warnardus Bilders, in Nederlands): Toen telde ik, op de binnenplaats mijns vaders in tweestrijd, de knoopen van mijn jas: soldaat of schilder, soldaat, schilder, soldaat, s…
“This is a simple story of a battle; such a tale as may be told by a soldier who is no writer to a reader who is no soldier.”
Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914) said by 1914 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is a fact that under equal conditions, large-scale battles and whole wars are won by troops which have a strong will for victory, clear goals before them, high moral standards, and devotion to the banner under which they go into battle.”
Georgy Zhukov (1896–1974) said by 1974 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in "The Military Quotation Book" - Page 15 - by James Charlton - 2002
“Probably the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing-fields of Eton, but the opening battles of all subsequent wars have been lost there.”
George Orwell (1903–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wars end when nations agree that war is an unsatisfactory instrument for solving their dispute; wars begin when nations agree that peaceful diplomacy is an unsatisfactory instrument for solving their dispute. Agreement is the essence of the transition from peace to war and from war to peace, for those are merely alternating phases of a relationship between nations.”
Geoffrey Blainey (born 1930) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Soldiers defending a country at war are not subject to the rules of procedure designed for court trials. For example, if a soldier encounters an enemy, under internationally agreed upon rules of war, that soldier can take whatever action is necessary to protect himself and neutralize his enemy, whether it involves capturing and detaining the enemy or killing him on the spot.”
John Ashcroft (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Asimov: Battlestar Galactica for instance, started off with twenty to thirty minutes of space battles which looked exactly like air battles in World War I. You could swear that the space ships were surrounded by air the way the maneuvered. One felt it was unworthy.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(…) when a man is fearless, no man can stand against him in battle – either a battle in material life or in spiritual life. He is victorious in all battles of life.”
Haidakhan Babaji (2000–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh, Death was never enemy of ours! We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum. No soldier's paid to kick against His powers. We laughed, — knowing that better men would come, And greater wars: when each proud fighter brags He wars on Death, for lives; not men, for flags.”
Wilfred Owen (1893–1918) said by 1918 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[T]he country is now more concerned with the Prime Minister winning the war than with his winning a Debate in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister wins Debate after Debate and loses battle after battle. The country is beginning to say that he fights Debates like a war and the war like a Debate.”
Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960) first seen 1942 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (2 July 1942)
“I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe that the War is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it. I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. I believe that this War, on which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest.”
Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wars fought exclusively on foreign soil do have marginally higher real output growth than peacetime periods, but real growth during all other wars is sharply below peacetime levels. Evidence for foreign and domestic wars is consistent with monetarist, fiscalist, and mixed theories of wartime booms.”
Bryan Caplan (born 1971) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In bitter despair, some people have come to believe that wars are inevitable. With tragic fatalism, they insist that wars have always been, of necessity, and of necessity wars always will be. To such defeatism, men and women of good will must not and can not yield. The outlook for humanity is not so hopeless.”
Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) said by 1972 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If the dictators and militarists who used to start wars had to earn by manual labor what their wars cost, there would have been very few wars.”
Jack Vance (1916–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All interstate wars intensify aggression – maximize it … some wars are even more unjust than others. In other words, all government wars are unjust, although some governments have less unjust claims…”
Murray Rothbard (1926–1995) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in an interview in Reason magazine (February 1973).
“Nothing is more certain than that war promotes science and increases comforts. Utopia may mean no more wars, but universal peace and plenty will never reign until at least one more war raises mankind to a plane of such comfort and ease that nobody on either side of a frontier can even imagine the possibility of resorting to arms. Comfort creates wars and comfort may someday end them.”
Malcolm de Chazal (1902–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Israel and Palestine wars and conflict is the key war example that can apply as example with many characteristics in common as in their wars. In my installation, the concrete visual presence of the colossal dynamite contraption wall is to confront the viewer and bring them face to face with happenings of the war, instead of the safe distance of the news from Television and radio.”
Emmanuel Eni (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even if a soldier lives, the risks of war come home with the warrior—that for every soldier killed, about twenty-five veterans kill themselves.”
Warren Farrell (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You’re actually a soldier,” he said to me, “and you go along with this foolishness?” “I didn’t ask to be a soldier. And I can’t imagine a peace as foolish as this war we’re in.”
Joe Haldeman (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some things You have to let be lost Some battles, some battles You have to leave unfought.Then the truth just wastes away In all we dare not say. And in all we can't explain But I faithfully remain.”
Ben Harper (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself — the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us — that's where it's at.”
Jesse Owens (1913–1980) first seen 1970 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Blackthink: My Life as Black Man and White Man (1970)
“Their exercises are unbloody battles, and their battles bloody exercises.”
Flavius Josephus (37–100) said by 100 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I was playing Godzilla, we would show him wrestling with the other monsters. These days Godzilla and the other monsters only are shown firing their rays at each other. Period films are enjoyable because they feature sword battles. Westerns are enjoyable because they feature gun battles. The recent Godzilla movies are like period films without swords and westerns without guns.”
Haruo Nakajima (1929–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the battles of those two awful eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives us mad. It is the remorse or bitterness for something that happened yesterday or the dread of what tomorrow may bring. Let us therefore do our best to live but one day at a time.”
Richmond Walker wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(letter adressed to Mihai Antonescu, 6 september 1941) „We must all understand that this is not a fight against Slavs, but against the Jews. It's a battle for life and death. Either we win and the world will purify, or they'll win and we'll become their slaves. Both the war in general and the battles at Odessa, especially, have made the proof that the Jew is Satan.”
Ion Antonescu (1882–1946) said by 1946 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Of course some wars may have been necessary or inevitable, but none was ever regarded as holy. For us, a holy war is a contradiction in terms. War dehumanizes, war diminishes, war debases all those who wage it. The Talmud says, "Talmidei hukhamim marbin shalom baolam" (It is the wise men who will bring about peace). Perhaps, because wise men remember best.”
Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our battle with our enemy is great...this is a battle between Islam and unbelief on this land. In this battle, the crusaders united with the World Zionism.'Mr. Bush. These decisions and statements will only lead you to the garbage can of history.' April 2004”
Ibrahim Mudeiris wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't like the definition 'war correspondent'. It is history, not journalism, that has condemned the Middle East to war. I think 'war correspondent' smells a bit, reeks of false romanticism: it has too much of the whiff of Victorian reporters who would view battles from hilltops in the company of ladies, immune to suffering, only occasionally glancing towards the distant pop-pop of cannon fire.”
Robert Fisk (1946–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The battle for evolution seems never-ending. And the battle is part of a wider war, a war between rationality and superstition.”
Jerry Coyne (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You ask me if I will not be glad when the last battle is fought so far as my country is concerned, I, of course, must wish for peace, and will be glad when the war is ended, but if I answer for myself alone, I must say that I shall regret to see the war end and I would be willing, yes glad, to see a battle every day during my life.”
George Armstrong Custer (1839–1876) first seen 1862 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to his cousin, October 3, 1862. Reported in Jeffry D. Wert, Custer: The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer (1996) ch. 3, p. 59
“World War I was a railway war of centralism and encirclement. World War II was a radio war of decentralism. World War III is a guerrilla information war with no division between military and civilian participation. (p.66)”
Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“World War I a railway war of centralization and encirclement. World War II a radio war of decentralization concluded by the Bomb. World War III a TV guerrilla war with no divisions between civil and military fronts. (p. 152)”
Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Today war seems to have undergone a change of meaning, insofar as it is not a war of religion but a war of interests, not a war of conflicting cultures or civilizations but a war of national areas, not a war of human beings but a technical struggle of machines one against another and all against the non–combatant population.”
Karl Jaspers (1883–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...Do not think the war that we are waging is the Islamic State’s war alone. Rather, it is the Muslims’ war altogether. It is the war of every Muslim in every place, and the Islamic State is merely the spearhead in this war. It is but the war of the people of faith against the people of disbelief...”
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (1971–2019) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi resurfaces in audio urging supporters to join terror group", Independent (15 May 2015)
“We have the immense background of War and of Revolution. That is enough — the blood is gratis! Both the soldier and the communist enrol themselves to murder — one under militarist rules, the other under marxist disciplines. But both are homicide-clubs, you call your victim "Hun", you call him "Bourgeois", it is all one — no, wars and communes have cheapened murder.”
Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Though I have been trained as a soldier, and participated in many battles, there never was a time when, in my opinion, some way could not be found to prevent the drawing of the sword. I look forward to an epoch when a court, recognized by all nations, will settle international differences, instead of keeping large standing armies as they do in Europe.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "International Arbitration" by W. H. Dellenback in The Commencement Annual, University of Michigan (30 June 1892) and in A Half Century of International Problems: A Lawyer's Views (1954) by Frederic René Co…
“Wake, soldier, wake, thy war-horse waits To bear thee to the battle back; Thou slumberest at a foeman’s gates,— Thy dog would break thy bivouac; Thy plume is trailing in the dust And thy red falchion gathering rust.”
Thomas Kibble Hervey (1799–1859) said by 1859 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ben Battle was a soldier bold, And used to war's alarms; But a cannon-ball took off his legs, So he laid down his arms.”
Thomas Hood (1799–1845) said by 1845 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Faithless Nellie Gray; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).