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Quotes about war and peace

540 quotes from 231 people

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If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War.
George Washington1732–1799Fifth annual Message (3 December 1793)
My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth.
George Washington1732–1799Letter to David Humphreys (25 July 1785), published in The Writings of George Washington, edited by John C. Fitzpatrick, Vol. 28, pp. 202-3
To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.
George Washington1732–1799First Annual Address, to both Houses of Congress (8 January 1790).
Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.
George Washington1732–1799Letter of Instructions to the Captains of the Virginia Regiments (29 July 1757)
A great and lasting war can never be supported on this principle [patriotism] alone. It must be aided by a prospect of interest, or some reward.
George Washington1732–1799Letter to John Banister, Valley Forge (21 April 1778)
- Patriotism
Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all.
George Washington1732–1799George Washington’s Farewell Address (1796)
- Justice
In a day of peace, let us advance the arts of peace and the works of peace.
Daniel Webster1782–1852Address on Laying the Cornerstone of the Bunker Hill Monument (1825)
All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavour to find out what you don’t know by what you do; that’s what I called “guessing what was at the other side of the hill.”
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington1769–1852Remark to John Wilson Croker (4 September 1852), in L. J. Jennings (ed.), The Croker Papers
- Knowledge
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”
If we don’t end war, war will end us.
H. G. Wells1866–1946Things to Come (1936)
The atomic bomb had dwarfed the international issues to complete insignificance.
H. G. Wells1866–1946The World Set Free (1913)
Ashoka (264 to 227 B.C.), one of the great monarchs of history, whose dominions extended from Afghanistan to Madras… is the only military monarch on record who abandoned warfare after victory.
H. G. Wells1866–1946The Outline of History (1920), chapter no. 25.4 (Buddhism and Ashoka) page no 365-366
- History
War is fear cloaked in courage.
William Westmoreland1914–2005
So immense had been the sacrifices made through so many long years that the South Vietnamese deserved an end- if it had to come to that- with more dignity to it.
William Westmoreland1914–2005A Soldier Reports (1976), p. 396.
In the mind of whatever perverted dreamer who might loose the lightning, New York must hold a steady, irresistible charm.
E. B. White1899–1985“Here Is New York,” Holiday (1948); reprinted in Here is New York (1949)