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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.

The decision to attack Iraq in March 2003 was discretionary; it was a war of choice.

Quotes by Richard N. Haass

Wars of necessity are essentially unavoidable. They involve the most important national interests, a lack of promising alternatives to the use of force, and a certain and considerable price to be paid if the status quo is allowed to stand....

Quotes by Richard N. Haass

There is no getting around the reality that the second Iraq war was a war of choice; had it been carried out differently, it still would have been an expensive choice and almost certainly a bad one.

Quotes by Richard N. Haass

The first Iraq War was one of necessity because vital U.S. interests were at stake, and we reached the point where no other national-security instruments were likely to achieve the necessary goal, which was the reversal of Saddam Hussein's invasion...

Quotes by Richard N. Haass

Trump is the first post-World War II American president to view the burdens of world leadership as outweighing the benefits.

Quotes by Richard N. Haass

Trade accords had been a staple of the post-World War II world, providing a mechanism for economic growth, development, and association with friends and allies, and a means of reining in would-be adversaries who otherwise would have little incentive to...

Quotes by Richard N. Haass

Vietnam was not a war of choice the United States had to fight. It was clearly not central.

Quotes by Richard N. Haass

They really do a disservice because these men and women came out of the Depression, they came out of the war.

Quotes by Richard M. Daley

The Cold War isn't thawing; it is burning with a deadly heat. Communism isn't sleeping; it is, as always, plotting, scheming, working, fighting.

Quotes by Richard M. Nixon

No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now.

Quotes by Richard M. Nixon

If war occurs, that positive adult contact in every shape is needed more than ever. It will be a matter of emotional life and death. There's not a handy one-minute way of talking to your kid about war.

Quotes by Richard Louv

I felt just overwhelmed by input: the Vietnam war and the collapse of the '60s and the proliferation of media' it just felt like everything was too much to handle and you just tuned out.

Quotes by Richard Hell

The World War II generation believed the United States could do anything - anything... And Vietnam was a shattering experience for everyone.

Quotes by Richard Holbrooke

World War I was not inevitable, as many historians say. It could have been avoided, and it was a diplomatically botched negotiation.

Quotes by Richard Holbrooke

I'm not a wide-eyed imperialist who wants to see Americans manning outposts all over the world. Not outposts to freedom in the cold war cliche, but islands of stability and seas of ethnic strife. That is not what anyone should...

Quotes by Richard Holbrooke

A lot of Iran's empowerment is a result of the war in Iraq.

Quotes by Richard Engel

I think war should be illegal.

Quotes by Richard Engel

War does horrible things to human beings, to societies. It brings out the best, but most often the worst, in our human nature.

Quotes by Richard Engel

War is not a petri dish to examine and analyze our emotions.

Quotes by Richard Engel

For years, Lebanese have known that Palestinian camps like Nahr al-Barid and Ain al-Helwe - hopeless slums crowded with generations of disenfranchised Palestinian refugees who can't go home because of Israel, and can't work because of Lebanese laws - are...

Quotes by Richard Engel

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.