World War I

Explore 20 quotes about World War I

The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.

Sir Edward Grey

Remark just before the beginning of World War I.

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Topic

World War I

Speaker

Sir Edward Grey

Statement Type

Prophecies and predictions

Language

English

Time

1914 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Grey, Edward. Twenty-Five Years, 1892-1916. Vo1. 2, Frederick A. Stokes, 1925, ch. 18.

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England.

Rupert Brooke

The Soldier

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Topic

World War I

Author

Rupert Brooke

Source

The Soldier

Medium

Poem

Genre

War poetry

Language

English

Time

1914 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Brooke, Rupert. "The Soldier." 1914 and Other Poems. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1915, I. 1.

Current Citation

Brooke, Rupert. "The Soldier." The Poems of Rupert Brooke. Dover Publications, 2020, I. 1.

If any question why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied.

Rudyard Kipling

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Topic

World War I

Author

Rudyard Kipling

Source

Common Form

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1919 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Kipling, Rudyard. "Common Form." The Years Between. Methuen and Co., 1919, I. 1.

Current Citation

Kipling, Rudyard. "Common Form." Selected Poems of Rudyard Kipling. Penguin Classics, 2006, I. 1.

America cannot be an ostrich with its head in the sand.

Woodrow Wilson

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Topic

World War I America and the world

Speaker

Woodrow Wilson

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1916 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Wilson, Woodrow. Speech in Des Moines. 1 Feb. 1916, Des Moines Coliseum, Des Moines, IA, USA.

They died to save their country and they only saved the world.

G.K. Chesterton

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Topic

Dying for one's country World War I

Author

G.K. Chesterton

Source

The English Graves The Ballad of St. Barbara and Other Verses

Medium

Poem

Genre

War poetry

Language

English

Time

1922 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Chesterton, G.K. "The English Graves." The Ballad of St. Barbara and Other Verses. Cecil Palmer, 1922, I. 18.

Died some, pro patria,
Non 'dulce' non 'et decor'…
Walked eye-deep in hell
Believing in old men's lies, then unbelieving
Came home, home to a lie.

Ezra Pound

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Topic

Horrors of war World War I

Author

Ezra Pound

Source

Hugh Selwyn Mauberley

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1920 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Pound, Ezra. Hugh Selwyn Mauberley. The Ovid Press, 1920, pt. 1, poem 4.

I gave my life for freedom-This I know:
For those who bade me fight had told me so.

William Norman Ewer

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Topic

Abuses of patriotism Dying for one's country World War I War

Author

William Norman Ewer

Source

Five Souls

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1914 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Ewer, William Norman. "Five Souls." British Nation, 3 Oct. 1914, I. 5.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

John McCrae

In Flanders Fields

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Topic

World War I

Author

John McCrae

Source

In Flanders Fields

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1915 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

McCrae, John. "In Flanders Fields." Punch, 8 Dec. 1915.

In those days, when every male who could stand half-way erect was being shipped to Verdun to undergo a radical change of posture from the vertical to the eternal horizontal.

Günter Grass

The Tin Drum

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More information about this quote

Topic

World War I War

Author

Günter Grass

Source

The Tin Drum

Medium

Novel

Language

German

Time

1959 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Die Blechtrommel [The Tin Drum]. Directed by Volker Schlöndorff. Franz Seitz Filmproduktion/Bioskop Film, 1959.

Every position must be held to the last man: there must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall, and believing in the justice of our cause, each one of us must fight on to the end.

Douglas Haig

More information about this quote

Topic

World War I No surrender War

Author

Douglas Haig

Source

Special Order of the Day

Language

English

Time

1918 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Haig, Douglas. "Special Order of the Day." 11 Apr. 1918, Great Britain, UK.

We have stood apart, studiously neutral.

Woodrow Wilson

More information about this quote

Topic

World War I

Speaker

Woodrow Wilson

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1915 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Wilson, Woodrow. "Third Annual Message." US Congress meeting. 7 Dec. 1915, United States Capitol, Washington, DC, USA.

Once lead this people into war and they will forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance.

Woodrow Wilson

More information about this quote

Topic

World War I

Speaker

Woodrow Wilson

Language

English

Time

1917 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wilson, Woodrow. Conversation with Frank Irving Cobb before asking Congress to declare war. 2 Apr. 1917.

The war has used up words.

Henry James

More information about this quote

Topic

World War I Horrors of war War

Author

Henry James

Source

Henry James's First Interview The New York Times

Medium

Interview Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1915 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

James, Henry. "Henry James's First Interview," interviewed by Preston Lockwood. New York Times, 21 Mar. 1915

There died a myriad,
And of the best, among them,
For an old bitch gone in the teeth,
For a botched civilization.

Ezra Pound

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Topic

World War I

Author

Ezra Pound

Source

Hugh Selwyn Mauberley

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1920 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Pound, Ezra. Hugh Selwyn Mauberley. The Ovid Press, 1920, pt. 1, poem 5.

The day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured.

Woodrow Wilson

More information about this quote

Topic

World War I American ideals

Speaker

Woodrow Wilson

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1917 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wilson, Woodrow. Address to Congress requesting a declaration of war against Germany. Congress meeting. 2 Apr. 1917, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Wilson, Woodrow. "Address to a Joint Session of Congress Calling for a Declaration of War." Woodrow Wilson: Essential Writings and Speeches of the Scholar-President, edited by Mario R. DiNunzio. NYU Press, 2006.

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae

In Flanders Fields

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More information about this quote

Topic

World War I

Author

John McCrae

Source

In Flanders Fields

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1915 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

McCrae, John. "In Flanders Fields." Punch, 8 Dec. 1915.

The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

Wilfred Owen

More information about this quote

Topic

World War I Horrors of war War

Author

Wilfred Owen

Source

Anthem for Doomed Youth

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1917 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Owen, Wilfred. "Anthem for Doomed Youth." Poems. Chatto & Windus, 1920.

Current Citation

Owen, Wilfred. "Anthem for Doomed Youth." The War Poems Of Wilfred Owen. Random House UK, 2018.

At eleven o'clock this morning came to an end the cruelest and most terrible war that has ever scourged mankind. I hope we may say thus, this fateful morning, came to an end all wars.

David Lloyd George

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Topic

World War I

Speaker

David Lloyd George

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Statement Type

Bad predictions Prophecies and predictions

Language

English

Time

1918 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

George, David Lloyd. Address about the signing of an armistice. House of Commons. 11 Nov. 1918, The Palace of Westminster, London, England, UK.

The Germans, if this Government is returned, are going to pay every penny; they are going to be squeezed as a lemon is squeezed-until the pips squeak.

Eric Geddes

More information about this quote

Topic

Germany World War I World War II

Speaker

Eric Geddes

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1918 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Geddes, Eric. Speech in Cambridge. 10 Dec. 1918, Cambridge, England, UK.

The United States must be neutral in fact as well as in name.

Woodrow Wilson

More information about this quote

Topic

World War I Foreign policy

Speaker

Woodrow Wilson

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1914 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Wilson, Woodrow. An address on neutrality. US Senate meeting. 19 Aug. 1914, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Wilson, Woodrow. "An Appeal for Neutrality in World War I." Woodrow Wilson: Essential Writings and Speeches of the Scholar-President, edited by Mario R. DiNunzio. NYU Press, 2006.