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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.

Everyone says we have our first African American president. Has there ever been a Jewish president? An Italian president? They don't say a damn thing about that. You think we're still fighting the Civil War or something. If you want...

Quotes by Monte Irvin

There are only two cases in which war is just: first, in order to resist the aggression of an enemy, and second, in order to help an ally who has been attacked.

Quotes by Montesquieu

Each particular society begins to feel its strength, whence arises a state of war between different nations.

Quotes by Montesquieu

As soon as man enters into a state of society he loses the sense of his weakness; equality ceases, and then commences the state of war.

Quotes by Montesquieu

The law of nations is naturally founded on this principle, that different nations ought in time of peace to do one another all the good they can, and in time of war as little injury as possible, without prejudicing their...

Quotes by Montesquieu

The object of war is victory; that of victory is conquest; and that of conquest preservation.

Quotes by Montesquieu

An empire founded by war has to maintain itself by war.

Quotes by Montesquieu

Barack Obama is not Harry Truman, who dropped the A-bomb on Japan to stop World War II. Barack Obama is not John F. Kennedy, who lowered marginal tax rates to get economic growth and job creation. Barack Obama and the...

Quotes by Monica Crowley

Like a lot of people, I read 'The Diary of Anne Frank' again and again and again when I was growing up - I'm still completely felled by what an astounding book it is. And as a teenager, I did...

Quotes by Monica Hesse

Behind a smoke screen of high-profile female appointees and soothing slogans, George W. Bush is waging war on women.

Quotes by Molly Ivins

I've said it before: War brings out the patriotic bullies. In World War I, they went around kicking dachshunds on the grounds that dachshunds were 'German dogs.' They did not, however, go around kicking German shepherds.

Quotes by Molly Ivins

I think we still have a chance if we continue with our work, if Iraq provides full cooperation, we should still be able to avoid a war.

Quotes by Mohamed ElBaradei

A war between Saudi Arabia and Iran is the beginning of a major catastrophe in the region, and it will reflect very strongly on the rest of the world. For sure, we will not allow any such thing.

Quotes by Mohammad bin Salman

Over the year,s the government launched more than one 'war on corruption,' and they all failed. Why? Because they all started from the bottom up.

Quotes by Mohammad bin Salman

When it comes to war, we focus more on the mainstream coverage of the event, rather than the event itself. People dying is never funny. Protest puppets are always funny.

Quotes by Mo Rocca

People are saying that the next war will be about water. Let's make sure there will be no next war, and let's make sure that we treat water the way it deserves.

Quotes by Miroslav Lajcak

With Vietnam, the Iraq War, so many American films about war are almost always from the American point of view. You almost never have a Middle Eastern character by name with a story.

Quotes by Mira Nair

My father was born on Christmas Day in 1934. He grew up in what is now part of North Korea. When the Korean War began, my father was 16, and he found passage on an American refugee ship,thinking he'd be...

Quotes by Min Jin Lee

Leftists wage the war on Christmas using their traditional methods - government fiat and the court system. They never win voting, and they certainly don't win in the free market, so they bravely fight their battles through big government.

Quotes by Milo Yiannopoulos

Black Lives Matter is the ultimate divisive movement. They aren't shy about what they don't like, which is western civilization, capitalism, and the rule of law. They really dislike the police, and certainly get the credit for the war between...

Quotes by Milo Yiannopoulos

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.