Special Report
32 Famous War Quotes to Remember as Ukraine Prepares for Second Year of War
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Military leaders talk about the fog of war in battle – however, war has also inspired military and political leaders, among other people, to great clarity in saying memorable things that decry war’s inhumanity or inspire those who must fight. (These are the greatest wartime speeches in history.)
24/7 Tempo compiled a list of famous quotes about war from a variety of sources such as Quote Ambition, Culture Trip, BrainyQuote, USAEmbassy, goodreads, and AZ Quotes, and media sources such as the Guardian. In instances where there is an exact date for the quote, that is noted; otherwise, the era when the quote was spoken or written is given.
In the darkest hours for the British Empire, after France fell to the Nazis during World War II, the newly ascended prime minister, Winston Churchill, rallied his nation with some of the most stirring orations of all time. More than a generation earlier, the phrase “They shall not pass” was attributed to French general Robert Nivelle, who exhorted his troops to stop the German onslaught at the Battle of Verdun.
The earliest sorrowful commentary on the horrors of war comes from the Greek historian Herodotus, who said “In peace, sons bury fathers. In war, fathers bury sons.” British nurse Vera Brittain spoke passionately about the effects of mustard gas on soldiers. And American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer channeled Hindu scripture to express the dread shared by colleagues when the United States detonated the first atomic bomb. (These were the most powerful nuclear explosions in history.)
Click here to read 33 famous quotes about war
Even though they were successful on the battlefield, meditations on war from Union general William Tecumseh Sherman and Confederate general Robert E. Lee showed they were not desensitized to the violence and destruction wrought during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, delivered just four months after the battle there, lifted a nation by speaking of sacrifice, dedication, and devotion to the Union cause.
“In war, truth is the first casualty.”
> Who said it: Aeschylus
> When: 550 B.C.
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“In peace, sons bury fathers. In war, fathers bury sons.”
> Who said it: Herodotus
> When: 5th century B.C.
“I came, I saw, I conquered.” (“Veni, vidi, vici.”)”
> Who said it: Julius Caesar
> When: 47 B.C.
“I have not yet begun to fight!”
> Who said it: John Paul Jones
> When: Sept. 23, 1779
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“Wars are not paid for in wartime. The bill comes later.”
> Who said it: Benjamin Franklin
> When: American Revolution
“There never was a good war or a bad peace.”
> Who said it: Benjamin Franklin
> When: July 1783
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“An Army, like a serpent, goes upon its belly.”
> Who said it: Frederick the Great
> When: Late 18th century
“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
> Who said it: Napoleon Bonaparte
> When: Early 19th century
“You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.”
> Who said it: Napoleon Bonaparte
> When: Early 19th century
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“He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.”
> Who said it: Napoleon Bonaparte
> When: Early 19th century
“I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.”
> Who said it: William Tecumseh Sherman
> When: Civil War
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“It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.”
> Who said it: Robert E. Lee
> When: Civil War
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“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”
> Who said it: Abraham Lincoln
> When: Nov. 19, 1863
“There’s no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. There is nothing good in war. Except its ending.”
> Who said it: Abraham Lincoln
> When: Civil War
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“I have never advocated war except as means of peace, so seek peace, but prepare for war. Because war… War never changes. War is like winter and winter is coming.”
> Who said it: Ulysses S. Grant
> When: Civil War
“They shall not pass!” (“Ils ne passeront pas!”)
> Who said it: Robert Nivelle (French general)
> When: 1916 (Battle of Verdun)
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“I wish those people who talk about going on with this war, whatever it costs, could see the soldiers suffering from mustard gas poisoning. Great mustard-colored blisters, blind eyes, all sticky and stuck together, always fighting for breath.”
> Who said it: Vera Brittain (British nurse)
> When: World War I
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“The world must be made safe for democracy.”
> Who said it: Woodrow Wilson
> When: April 2, 1917
“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”
> Who said it: Winston Churchill
> When: May 13, 1940
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“We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”
> Who said it: Winston Churchill
> When: June 4, 1940
“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.'”
> Who said it: Winston Churchill
> When: June 18, 1940
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“We must be the great arsenal of democracy.”
> Who said it: Franklin D. Roosevelt
> When: Dec. 29, 1940
“The Mediterranean will be turned into an Italian lake.”
> Who said it: Benito Mussolini
> When: World War II
“You only have to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down.” (said about Russia)
> Who said it: Adolf Hitler
> When: 1941
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“I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.”
> Who said it: Franklin D. Roosevelt
> When: Dec. 8, 1941
“I shall return.” (after leaving the Philippines during the Japanese invasion)
> Who said it: Douglas MacArthur
> When: March 20, 1942
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“Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you.”
> Who said it: Dwight D. Eisenhower
> When: June 6, 1944
“Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
> Who said it: J. Robert Oppenheimer
> When: July 16, 1945
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“A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.”
> Who said it: Joseph Stalin
> When: World War II
“History has shown there are no invincible armies.”
> Who said it: Joseph Stalin
> When: World War II
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“These proceedings are closed.” (upon the formal surrender of Japan)
> Who said it: Douglas MacArthur
> When: Sept. 2, 1945
“Everything depends on the Americans. If they want to make war for 20 years then we shall make war for 20 years. If they want to make peace, we shall make peace and invite them to tea afterwards.”
> Who said it: Ho Chi Minh
> When: Vietnam War
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