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War Quotes

War, remembered and reckoned with.

This topic pairs literary observation, such as a novelist's take on the social fabric depicted in a sprawling Tolstoy epic, with hard historical fact about the 1962 border conflict between China and India. Readers interested in broader historical context can visit History.

My ancestors include Monahwee, who was one of the leaders in the Red Stick War, which was the largest Indian uprising in history, and Osceola, who refused to sign a treaty with the United States.

Quotes by Joy Harjo

To Mr. Seward: It is my desire that, in case Maximillian will surrender, he be sent here a prisoner of war, but that in the event of his continuing the war, or refusing to surrender, then he be shot.

Quotes by Joshua A. Norton

We have to go in places no body would ever think of going into were it not for the necessities of war.

Quotes by Joshua Chamberlain

'Twenty One Pilots' is a play by Arthur Miller, who also wrote 'All My Sons.' It's about a guy who's creating and developing parts for airplanes in war time, when it comes to his attention that some of these parts...

Quotes by Josh Dun

What a man knows is everywhere at war with what he wants.

Quotes by Joseph Wood Krutch

Destroyers were the first to herald our entrance into the war.

Quotes by Josephus Daniels

Eighty percent of the people in the world have no food safety net. When disaster strikes - the economy gets blown, people lose a job, floods, war, conflict, bad governance, all of those things - there is nothing to fall...

Quotes by Josette Sheeran

But scientists on both sides of the iron curtain played a very significant role in maintaining the momentum of the nuclear arms race throughout the four decades of the Cold War.

Quotes by Joseph Rotblat

Since the end of the Cold War two main nuclear powers have begun to make big reductions in their nuclear arsenals. Each of them is dismantling about 2,000 nuclear warheads a year.

Quotes by Joseph Rotblat

So I ask the nuclear powers to abandon the out-of-date thinking of the Cold War period and take a fresh look. Above all, I appeal to them to bear in mind the long-term threat that nuclear weapons pose to humankind...

Quotes by Joseph Rotblat

The Cold War is over but Cold War thinking survives.

Quotes by Joseph Rotblat

The most terrifying moment in my life was October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I did not know all the facts - we have learned only recently how close we were to war - but I knew enough to...

Quotes by Joseph Rotblat

There is no direct evidence that nuclear weapons prevented a world war. Conversely, it is known that they nearly caused one.

Quotes by Joseph Rotblat

This is the reality of nuclear weapons: they may trigger a world war; a war which, unlike previous ones, destroys all of civilization.

Quotes by Joseph Rotblat

War is just one more big government program.

Quotes by Joseph Sobran

Frankly, I'd like to see the government get out of war altogether and leave the whole field to private industry.

Quotes by Joseph Heller

But that was war. Just about all he could find in its favor was that it paid well and liberated children from the pernicious influence of their parents.

Quotes by Joseph Heller

I'd like to see the government get out of war altogether and leave the whole field to private individuals.

Quotes by Joseph Heller

The pace of change and the speed of war has greatly accelerated.

Quotes by Joseph Dunford

I've only ever played 'God of War' while we were shooting it. I've seen a lot of the videos, but while we were shooting 'God of War,' they had a green room for the actors to hang out in, and...

Quotes by Joseph Gatt

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this page reference literature about war?
Yes. One quote reflects on reading novels that portrayed a world with a strong social fabric, noting: "People knew each other in 'War and Peace.'" It's a literary angle on the topic, rather than a historical or personal one. For more big-idea quotes, see Great quotes.
Is there a quote about the 1962 India-China border war?
Yes. One quote states plainly: "China invaded India, and there was a war between India and China in some of the disputed terrain in 1962, and India got hurt by that." It's a direct historical reference within the quote itself. Browse History quotes for more quotes rooted in real events.
Does this collection touch on the aftermath of World War I?
Yes. One quote describes how the end of the First World War had thrown Germany's youth into great turmoil, noting that the reins of power had fallen from the hands of a deeply disillusioned older generation. It's a sober historical observation.
Is there a quote that uses a chess metaphor to describe the war?
Yes - one quote compares the situation for Germany to an end game in chess in which she possessed one castle less than her adversary, adding that the loss of the war was as certain as the loss of an end game under those conditions. It's a vivid, strategic way of describing an outcome that felt inevitable. For more thought-provoking metaphors, see Life quotes.
What kinds of war-related quotes does this page bring together?
A mix of literary reflection, direct historical fact, and vivid metaphor - from a mention of 'War and Peace,' to the 1962 India-China border war, to World War I's aftermath in Germany, to a chess-based description of a war's inevitable loss. For more first-person reflections, see Me quotes.

Two entries look at Germany's condition in the aftermath of its 1918 defeat, one describing the disillusionment of a younger generation and the other comparing the loss to an inevitable endgame in chess. For more reflective lines, see Great or Life.