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Quotes about war and peace

540 quotes from 231 people

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Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
Sun Tzu544–496 BCThe Art of War (5th century BC), Chapter VIIIn context
When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.
Sun Tzu544–496 BCThe Art of War (5th century BC), Chapter VIIIn context
- Enemies
The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.
Sun Tzu544–496 BCThe Art of War (5th century BC), Chapter VIIIIn context
Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy’s unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.
Sun Tzu544–496 BCThe Art of War (5th century BC), Chapter XIIn context
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow1807–1882Christmas Bells (1865)In context
- Christmas
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
Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Shovel them under and let me work⁠—
I am the grass; I cover all.
Carl Sandburg1878–1967Grass (1918)In context
- Nature
For the man who should loose me is dead,
Fighting with the Duke in Flanders,
In a pattern called a war.
Christ! What are patterns for?
Amy Lowell1874–1925Patterns (1915)In context
But I’ve a rendezvous with Death
At midnight in some flaming town,
When Spring trips north again this year,
And I to my pledged word am true,
I shall not fail that rendezvous.
Alan Seeger1888–1916I Have a Rendezvous with Death (1916)In context
- Life & Death
The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
Wilfred Owen1893–1918Anthem for Doomed Youth (1920)In context
O, withered is the garland of the war,
The soldier’s pole is fallen; young boys and girls
Are level now with men. The odds is gone,
And there is nothing left remarkable
Beneath the visiting moon.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Antony and Cleopatra (c. 1606), Act IV, Scene XV, spoken by CleopatraIn context
- Life & Death
War, like other dramatic spectacles, might possibly cease for want of a “public.”
George Eliot1819–1880The Mill on the Floss (1860), Book Second: School-Time, Chapter IVIn context
The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting.
Stephen Crane1871–1900The Red Badge of Courage (1895), Chapter IIn context
- Nature
They were going to look at war, the red animal⁠—war, the blood-swollen god.
Stephen Crane1871–1900The Red Badge of Courage (1895), Chapter IIIIn context