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Quotes about war and peace

540 quotes from 231 people

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This man in his own country prayed we know not to what powers.
We pray them to reward him for his bravery in ours.
Rudyard Kipling1865–1936Epitaphs of the War (1914-1918) (1918)
- Courage
If any question why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied.
Rudyard Kipling1865–1936Epitaphs of the War (1914-1918) (1918), Common Form
- Truth & Lies
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
But it’s “Saviour of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot.
Rudyard Kipling1865–1936Tommy (1890), Barrack-Room Ballads (1892, 1896), Tommy, Stanza 5.In context
We’re foot⁠—slog⁠—slog⁠—slog⁠—sloggin’ over Africa!
Foot⁠—foot⁠—foot⁠—foot⁠—sloggin’ over Africa⁠—
(Boots⁠—boots⁠—boots⁠—boots, movin’ up and down again!)
There’s no discharge in the war!
Rudyard Kipling1865–1936Boots (1903)In context
I⁠—‘ave⁠—marched⁠—six⁠—weeks in ‘Ell an’ certify
It⁠—is⁠—not⁠—fire⁠—devils dark or anything
But boots⁠—boots⁠—boots, movin’ up an’ down again,
An’ there’s no discharge in the war!
Rudyard Kipling1865–1936Boots (1903)In context
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 Kissinger1923–2023The White House Years (1979)
- Power
One single war — we all know — may be productive of more evil, immediate and subsequent, than hundreds of years of the unchecked action of the mutual-aid principle may be productive of good.
Peter Kropotkin1842–1921Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (1902)
- Good & Evil
Nine-tenths of tactics are certain, and taught in books: but the irrational tenth is like the kingfisher flashing across the pool, and that is the test of generals.
T. E. Lawrence1888–1935The Evolution of A Revolt (1920)
- Leadership
The printing press is the greatest weapon in the armory of the modern commander…
T. E. Lawrence1888–1935The Evolution of A Revolt (1920)
- Journalism
As I refuse violence, I refuse to serve the violent.
Ursula K. Le Guin1929–2018The Eye of the Heron (1978), Chapter 1 (p. 13)
It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.
Robert E. Lee1807–1870Comment to James Longstreet, on seeing a Union charge repelled in the Battle of Fredericksburg (13 December 1862)
Pacifism, the preaching of peace in the abstract, is one of the means of duping the working class.
Vladimir Lenin1870–1924Collected Works, Vol. 21, pp. 158–164.
When we say “War is over if you want it,” we mean that if everyone demanded peace instead of another TV set, we’d have peace.
John Lennon1940–1980During the Bed-In for Peace in Montreal, Canada (1 June 1969)
They will never shoulder a musket again in anger, and if Grant is wise, he will leave them their guns to shoot crows with and their horses to plow with. It would do no harm.
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865Regarding the treatment of former Confederate soldiers. In Richmond, Virginia (April 4, 1865), as quoted in Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War (1885), by David Dixon Porter, p. 312
- Guns
Military glory, — that attractive rainbow that rises in showers of blood.
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865Speech in the United States House of Representatives opposing the Mexican war (12 January 1848)