Quotes about war and peace
540 quotes from 231 people
Perhaps we will be forgiven if we claim we are about midway to our objective!
Chester W. Nimitz1885–1966After the Battle of Midway, CINCPAC Communiqué No. 3, (6 June 1942)Among the Americans serving on Iwo island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.
Chester W. Nimitz1885–1966Statement after the Battle of Iwo Jima (c. March—May 1945); “UNCOMMON VALOR WAS A COMMON VIRTUE” has been inscribed on the USMC War Memorial.It has been a damned nice thing — the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington1769–1852Remark to Thomas Creevey after the Battle of Waterloo (June 1815), in The Creevey Papers (1903); “nice” here means “delicately balanced”The printing press is the greatest weapon in the armory of the modern commander…
T. E. Lawrence1888–1935The Evolution of A Revolt (1920)To win the War, to overcome the enemy upon the fields cannot alone ensure the Victory in Peace.
Haile Selassie1892–1975V. E. Day proclamation (8 May 1945)We don’t thrive on military acts. We do them because we have to, and thank God we are efficient.
Golda Meir1898–1978Vogue (July 1969)Against all odds and doom-and-gloom scenarios, Ukraine didn’t fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking.
Volodymyr Zelenskyyborn 1978Address to US Congress (21 December 2022)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.War’s very object is victory, not prolonged indecision. In war there is no substitute for victory.
Douglas MacArthur1880–1964Farewell address to Congress (1951)
John McCain1936–2018Speech to the American Red Cross “Promise of Humanity” conference (6 May 1999).- Haile Selassie1892–1975Address to the United Nations (1963)
Gore Vidal1925–2012“America First? America Last? America at Last?,” Lowell Lecture, Harvard University (20 April 1992)
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lamaborn 1935Nobel lecture (1989)
Joan Baezborn 1941Daybreak (1968)
George C. Marshall1880–1959Biennial Report of the Chief of Staff, US Army (1 September 1945)