War

"When the red wrath perisheth, when the dulled swords fail, These three who have walked with Death—these shall prevail. Hell bade all its millions rise; Paradise sends three: Pity, and Self-sacrifice, and Charity."

"Sufficeth this to prove my theme withal, That every bullet hath a lighting place."

"'A more stupid and wasteful business there never was. Fields will not be planted, food will run low, tax revenues will dry up — save from the makers of swords and munitions.'"

"Once blood is shed in a national quarrel reason and right are swept aside by the rage of angry men."

"I was bandaging their wounds together with a field nurse. We did what we could: tearing strips from shirts and using them as bandages. So many died there! One lost his arm and died before making it to the crossing. Just fell down. Our radio operator too. Our girls, as they were climbing up the bank, got hit too. They were screaming, calling for their mothers. Torn limbs were flying from the blasts. It was terrifying. The most horrible is not the shelling itself, but to see its result."

"[B]y adopting microeconomics, game theory, systems analysis, and other managerial techniques, the Kennedy administration advanced “limited” war to greater specificity, making it seem much more controllable, manageable, and therefore desirable as foreign policy."

"The war we are fighting until victory or the bitter end is in its deepest sense a war between Christ and Marx. Christ: the principle of love. Marx: the principle of hate."

"We have 500,000 reservists in America who would rise in arms against your government if you dare to make a move against Germany."

"Neither ridiculous shriekings for revenge by French chauvinists, nor the Englishmen's gnashing of teeth, nor the wild gestures of the Slavs will turn us from our aim of protecting and extending German influence all the world over."

"Ye living soldiers of the mighty war, Once more from roaring cannon and the drums And bugles blown at morn, the summons comes; Forgot the halting limb, each wound and scar: Once more your Captain calls to you; Come to his last review!"

"An attitude not only of defence, but defiance."

"I believe the media can be the greatest force for peace on Earth. Instead, all too often, it is wielded as a weapon of war. That has to be challenged."

"If you are opposed to war, you are not a fringe minority. You are not a silent majority. You are part of a silenced majority. Silenced by the mainstream media."

"[I]magine if the U.S. media showed uncensored, hellish images of war-even for one week. What impact would that have? I think we would be able to abolish war."

"Göring: Why, of course, the people don't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship. Gilbert: There is one difference. In a democracy, the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars. Göring: Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

"O, send Lewis Gordon hame And the lad I maune name, Though his back be at the wa' Here's to him that's far awa'. O, hon! my Highlandman, O, my bonny Highlandman, Weel would I my true love ken Among ten thousand Highlandmen."

"The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on."

"No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works."

"For the present, and so long as there are living witnesses of the great war of sections, there will be people who will not be consoled for the loss of a cause which they believed to be holy. As time passes, people, even of the South, will begin to wonder how it was possible that their ancestors ever fought for or justified institutions which acknowledged the right of property in man."

"I don't underrate the value of military knowledge, but if men make war in slavish obedience to rules, they will fail."

"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."

"Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true."

"War was return of earth to ugly earth, War was foundering of sublimities, Extinction of each happy art and faith By which the world had still kept head in air."

"The British army should be a projectile to be fired by the British navy."

"We will be misguided in our intentions if we point at one single thing and say that it will prevent war, unless, of course, that thing happens to be the will, the determination, and the resolve of people everywhere that nations will never again clash on the battlefield."

"Logistics is the ball and chain of armored warfare."

"The facts come sometimes to belie those who are convinced of the present reality of ‘moral progress’, according to the most usual conception of it; but all they do is modify their ideas a little in this respect, or refer the realization of their ideal to a more or less remote future, and they, too, might crawl out of their difficulties by talking about a ‘rhythm of progress’. Besides this, by a much simpler solution, they usually strive to forget the lesson of experience: such are the incorrigible dreamers who, at each new war do not fail to prophesy that it will be the last."

"Con disavvantaggio grande si fa la guerra con chi non ha che perdere."

"During the war of the rebellion Gould's firm did a large business in railway securities, and also made a great deal of money speculating in gold. Gould had private sources of information in the field, and he was able to turn almost every success or defeat of the Union army to profitable account."

"Wars are not a pub brawl. They are complex projects that require an extraordinary degree of organisation, cooperation and appeasement."

"War itself is not a mere science but a more fickle sort of thing, often subject to fate or chance, being an entirely human enterprise..."

"International wars became rare only after 1945, largely thanks to the new threat of nuclear annihilation."

"The greater the hold of government upon the life of the individual citizen, the greater the risk of war."

"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it."

"Yes; quaint and curious war is! You shoot a fellow down You'd treat if met where any bar is, Or help to half-a-crown."

"They were left in the lurch For want of more wadding—He ran to the church— * * * * * * With his arms full of hymnbooks … Rang his voice, "Put Watts into 'em—Boys, give 'em Watts.""

"An hour ago, a Star was falling. A star? There's nothing strange in that. No, nothing; but above the thicket, Somehow it seemed to me that God Somewhere had just relieved a picket."

"Hark! I hear the tramp of thousands, And of armèd men the hum; Lo, a nation's hosts have gathered Round the quick alarming drum— Saying, Come, Freemen, Come! Ere your heritage be wasted, Said the quick alarming drum."

"Let the only walls the foe shall scale Be ramparts of the dead!"

"My men never retire. They go forward or they die."

"Most of these who are thrust into combat soon find it impossible to maintain the mythic perception of war."

"The vanquished know war. They see through the empty jingoism of those who use the abstract words of glory, honor, and patriotism to mask the cries of the wounded, the senseless killing, war profiteering, and chest-pounding grief."

"Napoleon healed through sword and fire the sick nation."

"The purpose of war is to support your government's decisions by force."

"Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation—the last arguments to which kings resort."

"The god of war has gone over to the other side."

"Hang yourself, brave Crillon. We fought at Arques, and you were not there."

"Πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς, καὶ τοὺς μὲν θεοὺς ἔδειξε τοὺς δὲ ἀνθρώπους, τοὺς μὲν δούλους ἐποίησε τοὺς δὲ ἐλευθέρους."

"# War is the father and king of all: some he has made gods, and some men; some slaves and some free."

"It would be superfluous in me to point out to your Lordship that this is war."