We saw the lightning and that was the guns and then we heard the thunder and that was the big guns; and then we heard the rain falling and that was the blood falling; and when we came to get in the crops, it was dead men that we reaped.
—Harriet Tubman (c.1820–1913) American Abolitionist, Social Reformer
They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
Oh, the brave Music of a distant drum!
—Omar Khayyam (1048–1123) Persian Mathematician
Awareness is half the battle.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
Wars based on principle are far more destructive…the attacker will not destroy that which he is after.
—Alan Watts (1915–73) British-American Philosopher, Author
War alone brings up to their highest tension all human energies and imposes the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have the courage to make it.
—Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) Italian Head of State, Politician
A book glorifying war may be quite as anti-social, and to my mind quite as obscene, as one glorifying illicit love, but it is never suppressed, and seldom publicly denounced.
—J. B. S. Haldane (1892–1964) British Biologist, Geneticist
History teaches that wars begin when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap. To keep the peace, we and our allies must be strong enough to convince any potential aggressor that war could bring no benefit, only disaster.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one.
—Agatha Christie (1890–1976) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
To have courage, one must first be afraid. The deeper the fear, the more difficult the climb toward courage.
—Jim Bishop (1907–87) American Journalist, Author
War is the business of barbarians.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
In war there is no substitute for victory.
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
Universal peace will be realized, not because man will become better, but because a new order of things, a new science, new economic necessities, will impose peace.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
The monk that invented gunpowder did as much to stop war as did all the sermons of his brethren.
—Austin O’Malley (1858–1932) American Aphorist, Ophthalmologist
There’s only one proper way for a professional soldier to die. That’s from the last bullet, of the last battle, of the last war.
—George S. Patton (1885–1945) American Military Leader
We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
It is far easier to make war than to make peace.
—Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929) French Head of State, Physician, Publisher, Political leader
It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell.
—William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–91) American Military Leader, Businessperson, Educator
War educates the senses, calls into action the will, perfects the physical constitution, brings men into such swift and close collision in critical moments that man measures man.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The more we sweat in peace the less we bleed in war.
—Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (1900–90) Indian Politician, Diplomat
Here dead lie we because we did not choose to live and shame the land from which we sprung. Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose; but young men think it is, and we were young.
—A. E. Housman (1859–1936) English Poet, Classical Scholar
Wars throughout history have been waged for conquest and plunder…. the working class who fight all the battles, the working class who make the supreme sacrifices, the working class who freely shed their blood and furnish their corpses, have never yet had a voice in either declaring war or making peace. It is the ruling class that invariably does both. They alone declare war and they alone make peace….They are continually talking about their patriotic duty. It is not their but your patriotic duty that they are concerned about. There is a decided difference. Their patriotic duty never takes them to the firing line or chucks them into the trenches.
—Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) American Socialist, Union Leader
Become aware of and recognize fully the fact that the Principle of Power within you is God Himself. You must consciously identify yourself with the Highest.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author
War is a series of catastrophes that results in victory.
—Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929) French Head of State, Physician, Publisher, Political leader
Just as he had shown no signs of despair when prospects looked bleak, he now showed no elation in what he wrote or in his outward manner or comments.
—David McCullough (b.1933) American Historian
It is perhaps significant that the adherents of war are more and more justifying it by its past record and reminding us of its ancient origin… . The little lad who stoutly defends himself on the school ground may be worthy of much admiration, but if we find him, a dozen years later, the bullying leader of a street-gang … our admiration cools amazingly.
—Jane Addams (1860–1935) American Social Reformer, Feminist
No one can tell you what is right for you except yourself. So start telling yourself what to do. If you blunder for ten years while thinking for yourself, that is rich treasure when compared with living these ten years under the mental domination of another.
—Vernon Howard (1918–92) American Spiritual Teacher, Philosopher
What, oh, what is the use of the war? Why can’t people live peacefully together? Why all this destruction?
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim
The will to prepare is more important that the will to win.
—LaVell Edwards (1930–2016) American College Football Coach
To sin is to be off the mark, that is, to inhibit development, contracting backward into regression rather than expanding forward into growth.
—Connie Zweig (b.1949) American Minister, Columnist, Psychotherapist
What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world.
—Robert E. Lee (1807–70) Confederate General during American Civil War
The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
What the horrors of war are, no one can imagine. They are not wounds and blood and fever, spotted and low, or dysentery, chronic and acute, cold and heat and famine. They are intoxication, drunken brutality, demoralization and disorder on the part of the inferior… jealousies, meanness, indifference, selfish brutality on the part of the superior.
—Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) English Nurse
It sometimes strikes me that the whole of science is a piece of impudence; that nature can afford to ignore our impertinent interference. If our monkey mischief should ever reach the point of blowing up the earth by decomposing an atom, and even annihilated the sun himself, I cannot really suppose that the universe would turn a hair.
—Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) English Occultist, Mystic, Magician
The purpose of fighting is to win. There is no possible victory in defense. The sword is more important than the shield and skill is more important than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental.
—John Steinbeck (1902–68) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Journalist
Named must your fear be before banish it you can.
—Yoda Character In ‘Star Wars’
Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.
—Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) Dutch Philosopher, Theologian
When wars do come, they fall upon the many, the producing class, who are the sufferers.
—Ulysses S. Grant (1822–85) American Civil War General, Head of State
They must be cool but determined…he threatened instant death to any man who showed cowardice.
—David McCullough (b.1933) American Historian
The superpowers often behave like two heavily armed blind men feeling their way around a room, each believing himself in mortal peril from the other, whom he assumes to have perfect vision.
—Henry Kissinger (b.1923) American Diplomat, Academician
Here is the basic rule for winning success. Let’s mark it in the mind and remember it. The rule is: Success depends on the support of other people. The only hurdle between you and what you want to be is the support of other people.
—David J. Schwartz (1927–87) American Self-help Author
In our own time we have seen domination spread over the social landscape to a point where it is beyond all human control. Compared to this stupendous mobilization of materials, of wealth, of human intellect, of human labor for the single goal of domination, all other recent human achievements pale to almost trivial significance. Our art, science, medicine, literature, music and “charitable” acts seem like mere droppings from a table on which gory feasts on the spoils of conquest have engaged the attention of a system whose appetite for rule is utterly unrestrained.
—Murray Bookchin (1921–2006) Social Ecologist, Anarchist, Trade-Union Organizer
Politics and war are remarkably similar situations.
—Newt Gingrich (b.1943) American Politician
War has been the most convenient pseudo-solution for the problems of twentieth-century capitalism. It provides the incentives to modernization and technological revolution which the market and the pursuit of profit do only fitfully and by accident, it makes the unthinkable (such as votes for women and the abolition of unemployment) not merely thinkable but practicable. What is equally important, it can re-create communities of men and give a temporary sense to their lives by uniting them against foreigners and outsiders. This is an achievement beyond the power of the private enterprise economy when left to itself.
—Eric Hobsbawm (1917–2012) British Historian
War prosperity is like the prosperity that an earthquake or a plague brings. The earthquake means good business for construction workers, and cholera improves the business of physicians, pharmacists, and undertakers; but no one has for that reason yet sought to celebrate earthquakes and cholera as stimulators of the productive forces in the general interest.
—Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973) Austrian Economist, Philosopher, Author
Our modern states are preparing for war without even knowing the future enemy.
—Alfred Adler (1870–1937) Austrian Psychiatrist
No country without an atom bomb could properly consider itself independent.
—Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) French General, Statesman
The Southern rebellion was largely the outgrowth of the Mexican war. Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions. We got our punishment in the most sanguinary and expensive war of modern times.
—Ulysses S. Grant (1822–85) American Civil War General, Head of State
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 as often as you can, and keep moving on.
—Ulysses S. Grant (1822–85) American Civil War General, Head of State
I see that old flagpole still stands. Have your troops hoist the colors to its peak, and let no enemy ever haul them down.
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
There are two things which will always be very difficult for a democratic nation: to start a war and to end it.
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–59) French Historian, Political Scientist
War is not the continuation of politics with different means, it is the greatest mass-crime perpetrated on the community of man.
—Alfred Adler (1870–1937) Austrian Psychiatrist
To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.
—George Washington (1732–99) American Head of State, Military Leader
If goods don’t cross borders, armies will.
—Frederic Bastiat (1801–50) French Political Economist
When I start my day by reflecting on all the things I have to be grateful for, I’ll have a much more rewarding day.
—Russell Simmons (b.1957) American Music Promoter
Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.
—Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chinese Statesman
When you are genuinely strong, you neither attack nor defend and so retain your energy.
—Vernon Howard (1918–92) American Spiritual Teacher, Philosopher
We wake up to find the whole world building competitive trade barriers, just as we found it a few years ago building competitive armaments. We are trying to reduce armaments to preserve the world’s solvency. We shall have to reduce competitive trade barriers to preserve the world’s sanity. As between the two, trade barriers are more destructive than armaments and more threatening to the peace of the world.
—Owen D. Young (1874–1962) American Businessperson, Lawyer, Diplomat
I have known war as few men now living know it. It’s very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes.
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.
—Otto von Bismarck (1815–98) German Chancellor, Prime Minister
I believe in compulsory cannibalism. If people were forced to eat what they killed, there would be no more wars.
—Abbie Hoffman (1936–89) American Political Activist, Anarchist
The spirit reveals itself to everyone with the same intensity and consistency, but only warriors are consistently attuned to such revelations.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
When natural inclination develops into a passionate desire, one advances towards his goal in seven-league boots.
—Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) Serbian-American Electrical Engineer, Inventor
Rich people see opportunities. Poor people see obstacles. Rich people see potential growth. Poor people see potential loss. Rich people focus on rewards. Poor focus on the risks.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
I don’t believe that the big men, the politicians and the capitalists alone are guilty of the war. Oh, no, the little man is just as keen, otherwise the people of the world would have risen in revolt long ago! There is an urge and rage in people to destroy, to kill, to murder, and until all mankind, without exception, undergoes a great change, wars will be waged, everything that has been built up, cultivated and grown, will be destroyed and disfigured, after which mankind will have to begin all over again.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim
Moral disarmament is to safeguard the future; material disarmament is to save the present, that there may be a future to safeguard.
—Elihu Root (1845–1937) American Jurist, Statesman
In my experience, there’s only one thing that will always steer you toward success: That’s to have a vision and to stick with it… Once I have a vision for a new venture, I’m going to ride that vision until the wheels come off.
—Russell Simmons (b.1957) American Music Promoter
A single grateful thought toward heaven is the most perfect prayer.
—Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–81) German Writer, Philosopher
War seems to be one of the most salutary phenomena for the culture of human nature; and it is not without regret that I see it disappearing more and more from the scene.
—Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835) German Philosopher, Linguist, Statesman
Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base.
—George S. Patton (1885–1945) American Military Leader
That was what, ultimately, war did to you. It was not the physical dangers–the mines at sea, the bombs from the air, the crisp ping of a rifle bullet as you drove over a desert track. No, it was the spiritual danger of learning how much easier life was if you ceased to think.
—Agatha Christie (1890–1976) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
Weapons are like money; no one knows the meaning of enough.
—Martin Amis (b.1949) British Novelist, Journalist
The way to win an atomic war is to make certain it never starts.
—Omar Bradley (1893–1981) American Military Leader
If it were not for the war, this war would suit me down to the ground.
—Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) British Crime Writer
My belief is firm in a law of compensation. The true rewards are ever in proportion to the labour and sacrifices made.
—Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) Serbian-American Electrical Engineer, Inventor
The heights, by great men reached and kept, were not obtained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.
—Thomas S. Monson (b.1927) American Mormon Religious Leader
There is nothing that war has ever achieved we could not better achieve without it.
—Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) British Sexologist, Physician, Social Reformer
When you realize that suffering and discomfort are the call to inquiry, you may actually begin to look forward to uncomfortable feelings. You may even experience them as friends coming to show you what you have not yet investigated thoroughly enough.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
Taking responsibility means being aware of where and when you are NOT taking responsibility so that you can eventually change.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
War both needs and generates certain virtues; not the highest, but what may be called the preliminary virtues, as valor, veracity, the spirit of obedience, the habit of discipline. Any of these, and of others like them, when possessed by a nation, and no matter how generated, will give them a military advantage, and make them more likely to stay in the race of nations.
—Walter Bagehot (1826–77) English Economist, Journalist
The greatest curse that can be entailed on mankind is a state of war. All the atrocious crimes committed in years of peace, all that is spent in peace by the secret corruptions, or by the thoughtless extravagance of nations, are mere trifles compared with the gigantic evils which stalk over this world in a state of war. God is forgotten in war; every principle of Christianity is trampled upon.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
The moment that he begins to walk along it, the warrior of the light recognizes the path.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
War is like love, it always finds a way.
—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German Poet, Playwright, Theater Personality
If you call one thing good, you must call its opposite bad. If you think it wonderful to make a big profit in your business, you will also think it terrible if you incur a large loss. The idea is to live above the opposites.
—Vernon Howard (1918–92) American Spiritual Teacher, Philosopher
The natural principle of war is to do the most harm to our enemy with the least harm to ourselves; and this of course is to be effected by stratagem.
—Washington Irving (1783–1859) American Essayist, Biographer, Historian
As a peaceful warrior, I would choose when, where and how I would behave. With that commitment, I began to live the life of a warrior.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
Frankly, I’d like to see the government get out of war altogether and leave the whole field to private industry.
—Joseph Heller (1923–99) American Novelist
The rewards are profound. Shadow-work enables us to alter our self-sabotaging behavior so that we can achieve a more self-directed life.
—Connie Zweig (b.1949) American Minister, Columnist, Psychotherapist
It is well that war is so terrible, else we should grow too fond of it.
—Robert E. Lee (1807–70) Confederate General during American Civil War
The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art. If you try to run away from it, if you are scared to go to the brink, you are lost.
—John Foster Dulles (1888–1959) American Lawyer, Diplomat, Politician
There are no warlike people, just warlike leaders.
—Ralph Bunche (1903–71) American Political Scientist, Diplomat
Now intelligence seemed quantifiable. You could measure someone’s actual or potential height, and now, it seemed, you could also measure someone’s actual or potential intelligence. We had one dimension of mental ability along which we could array everyone… The whole concept has to be challenged; in fact, it has to be replaced.
—Howard Gardner (b.1943) American Cognitive Psychologist
The flame from the angel’s sword in the garden of Eden has been catalyzed into the atom bomb; God’s thunderbolt became blunted, so man’s thunderbolt has become the steel star of destruction.
—Sean O’Casey (1880–1964) Irish Dramatist, Memoirist
The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.
—Edward Gibbon (1737–94) English Historian, Politician
Don’t wait until you die to learn the warrior’s way. Do it now, each night, just before you drift off to sleep. As you review your day, consider these two questions of courage and love. Learn from each day, so that each day you can show a little more courage and a little more love. Then, as incidents occur, you may rise to the occasion and look back at the end of your life and feel good about the way you lived.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
I regard almost all quarrels of princes on the same footing, and I see nothing that marks man’s unreason so positively as war. Indeed, what folly to kill one another for interests often imaginary, and always for the pleasure of persons who do not think themselves even obliged to those who sacrifice themselves for them!
—Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762) English Aristocrat, Poet, Novelist, Writer
Weapons are an important factor in war, but not the decisive factor; it is people, not things, that are decisive. The contest of strength is not only a contest of military and economic power, but also a contest of human power and morale. Military and economic power is necessarily wielded by people.
—Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chinese Statesman
War is organized murder and torture against our brothers.
—Alfred Adler (1870–1937) Austrian Psychiatrist
If you would thoroughly know anything, teach it to others.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.
—Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973) American Feminist, Pacifist
Talent does what it can; genius does what it must.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–44) French Novelist, Aviator