War

Explore 135 quotes about War

I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

Apocalypse Now

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Topic

Vietnam War Napalm War

Speaker

Bill Killgore

Actor

Robert Duvall

Source

Apocalypse Now

Medium

Film

Genre

Psychological drama (film) War (film) Psychological drama War

Language

English

Time

1979 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Apocolypse Now. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Omni Zoetrope, 1979.

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Wilfred Owen

Dulce et Decorum Est

A Latin phrase, originally from Horace's Odes, meaning "it is sweet and fitting to die for the homeland."

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Topic

Dying for one's country Self-sacrifice Patriotism War

Author

Wilfred Owen

Source

Dulce et Decorum Est

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1918 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Owen, Wilfred. "Dulce et Decorum Est." Poems by Wilfred Owen. Chatto & Windus, 1920.

Current Citation

Owen, Wilfred. "Dulce et Decorum Est." The War Poems Of Wilfred Owen. Random House UK, 2018.

There are no atheists in the fox holes.

William Thomas Cummings

More information about this quote

Topic

Facing death God and war War

Speaker

William Thomas Cummings

Language

English

Time

1943 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Cummings, William Thomas. Quoted in I Saw the Fall of the Philippines, by Carlos P. Romulo. Doubleday, 1943, ch. 15.

War is not merely a political act, but also a real political instrument, a continuation of political commerce, a carrying out of the same by other means.

Karl Von Clausewitz

On War

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Topic

Nature of war War

Author

Karl Von Clausewitz

Source

On War

Genre

Political literature

Language

German

Time

1833 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Clausewitz, Karl. Vom Kriege [On War]. Berlin: Ferdinand Dummler, 1832, ch. 1, pt. 1.

Current Citation

Clausewitz, Carl. On War, translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret. Everyman's Library, 1993, ch. 1, pt. 1.

War!
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing.

Edwin Starr

War

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Topic

Anti-war War

Speaker

Edwin Starr

Source

War War & Peace (album)

Medium

Song

Genre

Protest song Soul music

Language

English

Time

1970 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Strong, Barett and Norman Whitfield. "War." Performed by The Temptations. Psychedelic Shack. Gordy, 1970.

Carthage must be destroyed.

Cato the Elder

Quoted in Plutarch's Lives, by Plutarch

Cato ended several of his speeches with this phrase after his visit to Carthage in 152 BC.

More information about this quote

Topic

War

Speaker

Cato the Elder

Author

Plutarch

Source

Plutarch's Lives

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Statement Type

Declaration

Language

Latin

Time

149 BC 140s BC 2nd century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Cato the Elder. Speech within the Roman Senate prior to the Third Punic War. c. 149 BC, Rome, Italy.

If the Persians hide the sun, the battle will be in shade rather than sunlight.

Herodotus

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Topic

Battle of Thermopylae Courage War

Speaker

Dieneces of Sparta

Author

Herodotus

Source

Histories

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Herodotus. Ἱστορίαι [Histories]. c. 430 BC, bk. 7, sect. 226.

Current Citation

Herodotus. The Histories, translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 7, sect. 226.

In war, indeed, there can be no substitute for victory.

Douglas MacArthur

More information about this quote

Topic

War

Speaker

Douglas MacArthur

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

MacArthur, Douglas. Address to a Joint Meeting of Congress. House of Representatives. 19 Apr. 1951, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

War alone brings up to its highest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have the courage to face it.

Benito Mussolini

More information about this quote

Topic

Attraction of war Praise of war War

Author

Benito Mussolini

Language

Italian

Time

1932 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Mussolini, Benito. "Fascismo [Fascism]: 'Forza e consenso [Strength and Consent].'" Enciclopedia Italiana [Italian Encyclopedia]. 1932.

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Wilfred Owen

Dulce et Decorum Est

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Topic

Horrors of war War

Author

Wilfred Owen

Source

Dulce et Decorum Est

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1920 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Owen, Wilfred. "Dulce et Decorum Est." Poems by Wilfred Owen. Chatto & Windus, 1920.

Current Citation

Owen, Wilfred. "Dulce et Decorum Est." The War Poems Of Wilfred Owen. Random House UK, 2018.

Terminate...with extreme prejudice.

Apocalypse Now

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Topic

War

Speaker

Civilian

Actor

Jerry Ziesmer

Source

Apocalypse Now

Medium

Film

Genre

Psychological drama (film) War (film) Psychological drama War

Statement Type

Orders and commands

Language

English

Time

1979 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Apocolypse Now. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Omni Zoetrope, 1979.

Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle.

Patton

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Topic

American character Americans War World War II

Speaker

General George S. Patton

Actor

George C. Scott

Source

Patton

Medium

Film

Genre

Biography (film) War (film) Biography War

Language

English

Time

1969 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Patton. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. 20th Century Fox, 1969.

There are no warlike peoples-just warlike leaders.

Ralph J. Bunche

More information about this quote

Topic

War

Speaker

Ralph J. Bunche

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1950 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Bunche, Ralph J. Address to United Nations. c. 1971, New York City, NY, USA.

Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.

George S. Patton

More information about this quote

Topic

Winning a war War

Author

George S. Patton

Medium

Speech

Genre

Military speech

Language

English

Time

1933 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Patton, George Smith. "Mechanized Forces." Jan. 1933, Fort Myer, VA, USA. Lecture.

To say that war is madness is like saying that sex is madness: true enough, from the standpoint of a stateless eunuch, but merely a provocative epigram for those who must make their arrangements in the world as given.

John Updike

Self-Consciousness

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Topic

War

Author

John Updike

Source

Self-Consciousness

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Updike, John. Self-Consciousness: Memoirs. Alfred A. Knopf, 1989, ch. 4.

God has pity on kindergarten children.
He has less pity on school children.
And on grownups he has no pity at all,
he leaves them alone,
and sometimes they must crawl on all fours
in the burning sand
to reach the first-aid station
covered with blood.

Yehuda Amichai

God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children

More information about this quote

Topic

War

Author

Yehuda Amichai

Source

God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children

Medium

Poem

Language

Hebrew

Time

1955 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Amichai, Yehuda. "God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children." Now and in Other Days. 1955.

Make war that we may live in peace.

Aristotle

The Nicomachean Ethics

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Topic

War and peace War Peace

Author

Aristotle

Source

The Nicomachean Ethics

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

Greek

Time

322 BC 320s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aristotle. Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, Ēthika Nikomacheia [Nicomachean Ethics]. c. 322 BC.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics, translated by Terence Irwin. Hackett Publishing, 2019.

Laws are silent in time of war.

Cicero

Pro Milone

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law Law Legal theory Political theory War

Speaker

Cicero

Source

Pro Milone

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

Latin

Time

52 BC 50s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Pro Milone [In Defense of Milo]. c. 52 BC, sect. 11.

Current Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Pro Milone [For Milo], translated by D. H. Berry. Oxford University Press, 2009, sect. 11.

War is to man as motherhood is to woman.

Benito Mussolini

More information about this quote

Topic

War

Speaker

Benito Mussolini

Language

Italian

Time

1934 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Mussolini, Benito. Speech in Italy. 26 May 1934, Chamber of Deputies, Palazzo Montecitorio, Rome, Italy.

Warfare... Is just an invention, older and more widespread than the jury system, but none the less an invention.

Margaret Mead

More information about this quote

Topic

War

Author

Margaret Mead

Source

Warfare is Only an Invention—Not a Biological Necessity

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1940 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Mead, Margaret. "Warfare is Only an Invention--Not a Biological Necessity." Asia, Aug. 1940.