Quotations About War
Related: Violence
It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.
Voltaire
War
War
We kill because we are afraid of our own shadow, afraid that if we used a little common sense we'd have to admit that our glorious principles were wrong.
Henry Miller
The Wisdom of the Heart, 1941
The Wisdom of the Heart, 1941
Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons.
Tim O'Brien
The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried
We always prefer war on our own terms to peace on someone else's.
Mignon McLaughlin
The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966
The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966
I have no doubt that we will be successful in harnessing the sun's energy.... If sunbeams were weapons of war, we would have had solar energy centuries ago.
Sir George Porter
The Observer, 26 August 1973
The Observer, 26 August 1973
We need a new law that owners of SUVs are automatically in the military reserve. Then they can go get their own goddamn oil.
Jello Biafra
The Guardian, 3 November 2007
The Guardian, 3 November 2007
Liberty and democracy become unholy when their hands are dyed red with innocent blood.
Mahatma Gandhi
Non-violence in Peace and War, 1948
Non-violence in Peace and War, 1948
You can't say civilization don't advance, however, for in every war they kill you in a new way.
Will Rogers
New York Times, 23 December 1929
New York Times, 23 December 1929
It is easier to lead men to combat, stirring up their passions, than to restrain them and direct them toward the patient labors of peace.
André Gide
Journals, 13 September 1938
Journals, 13 September 1938
The most persistent sound which reverberates through men's history is the beating of war drums.
Arthur Koestler
Janus: A Summing Up
Janus: A Summing Up
Wars usually have the effect of speeding up the process of history.
Pieter Geyl
Debates With Historians
Debates With Historians
Frankly, I'd like to see the government get out of war altogether and leave the whole field to private individuals.
Joseph Heller
Catch-22, 1955
Catch-22, 1955
The stench of the trail of Ego in our History. It is ego - ego, the fountain cry, origin, sole source of war.
George Meredith
Beauchamp's Career
Beauchamp's Career
Making peace, I have found, is much harder than making war.
Gerry Adams
"Gerry Adams Talks About His Efforts for Peace," on Charlie Rose. 1994
"Gerry Adams Talks About His Efforts for Peace," on Charlie Rose. 1994
The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.
Albert Einstein
"Atomic War or Peace," Atlantic Monthly, November 1945
"Atomic War or Peace," Atlantic Monthly, November 1945
Peace is not the absence of war, but a virtue based on strength of character.
Baruch Spinoza
Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived.
Abraham Lincoln
Business is a combination of war and sport.
André Maurois
Draft beer, not people.
Unknown
Before a war military science seems a real science, like astronomy; but after a war it seems more like astrology.
Rebecca West
Everything in life has an opposite. While one brings devastation; the other brings peace.
Freddy Mella