Quotes on War (6)

“If the public knew the truth, the war would end tomorrow. But they don't know and they can't know.” Former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, to Manchester Guardian editor C.P. Scott, 1914, as quoted by Philip Knightly in his book “The First Casualty: From the Crimea to Vietnam ” - Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist and Myth-maker
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“The Pentagon recently justified its' position on censorship by insisting: ‘If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war.'” From “Military Blunders”, article by Geoffrey Regan in “Night and Day” (Mail on Sunday supplement) 23rd January 2000
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“If they talk about dying for principles that are bigger than life you say mister you're a liar. Nothing is bigger than life. There's nothing noble in death. What's noble about lying in the ground and rotting? What's noble about never seeing the sunshine again? What's noble about having your legs and arms blown off? What's noble about being an idiot? What's noble about being blind and deaf and dumb? What's noble about being dead? Because when you're dead mister it's all over. It's the end. You're less than a dog less than a rat less than a bee or an ant less than a maggot crawling around on a dungheap. You're dead mister and you died for nothing. You're dead mister. Dead.” Dalton Trumbo, Johnny Got His Gun [I entered the quote directly as it is found in the text with the same line endings, and the same lack of punctuation. Possibly the greatest anti-war novel ever written.]

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“If war aims are stated which seem to be solely concerned with Anglo-American imperialism, they will offer little to people in the rest of the world. The interests of other peoples should be stressed. This would have a better propaganda effect.” Private memo from The Council of Foreign Relations to the US State Department, 1941
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“If we do go to war, psychological operations are going to be absolutely a critical, critical part of any campaign that we must get involved in.” General H. Norman Schwarzkopf
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“If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed, if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.” Winston Churchill

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“In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful.” Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy (1828-1910), Russian author
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“In all history, there is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. Only one who knows the disastrous effects of a long war can realize the supreme importance of rapidity in bringing it to a close.” Sun Tzu (c.500-320 B.C.), name used by the unknown Chinese authors of the sophisticated treatise on philosophy, logistics, espionage, strategy and tactics known as ‘The Art of War', The Art of War
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“Every great historic change has been based on nonconformity, has been bought either with the blood or with the reputation of nonconformists.” Ben Shahn (1898-1969), Atlantic Monthly, September 1957
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“In reviewing the history of the English Government, its wars and its taxes, a bystander, not blinded by prejudice nor warped by interest, would declare that taxes were not raised to carry on wars, but that wars were raised to carry on taxes.” Thomas Paine

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“In the democracy of the dead all men at last are equal. There is neither rank nor station nor prerogative in the republic of the grave.” John James Inga

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“In the struggle of good against evil, it's always the people who get killed.” Eduardo Galeano
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“In violence, we forget who we are.” Mary McCarthy (1912-1989), American novelist and critic
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“Political history is largely an account of mass violence and of the expenditure of vast resources to cope with mythical fears and hopes.” Murray Edelman
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“In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.” Jose Narosky
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“It is a sobering thought that better evidence is required to prosecute a shoplifter than is needed to commence a world war.” Anthony Scrivener QC, Times, 5 October 2001 , p. 7
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“It is a tragic mix-up when the United States spends $500,000 for every enemy soldier killed, and only $53 annually on the victims of poverty.” Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)
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“Youth is the first victim of war; the first fruit of peace. It takes 20 years or more of peace to make a man; it takes only 20 seconds of war to destroy him.” King Baudouin I: King of Belgium
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“It is foolish in the extreme not only to resort to force before necessity compels, but especially to madly create the conditions that will lead to this necessity.” Benjamin Tucker, Liberty , May 22, 1886
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“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” Voltaire, War

More War Quotes:
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25)

World of Wars

A War Prayer by Mark Twain. Preachers, profiteers and politicians make war appear to be glorious. This is the text of Mark Twain's powerful illustration and a link to a youtube video version.

War: Who is responsible? by Lawrence M. Vance. Points out that the American government has created a mindset that when a person puts on a military uniform, they are no longer responsible for their actions on the killing fields. This is wrong.

War is a Racket by Major General Smedley Darlington Butler

The pioneers of a warless world are the youth that refuse military service. - Albert Einstein.

The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations. David Friedman

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." -MATTHEW 5:9

Neither shall they learn war any more. Jewish and Christian Bibles, Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3

Perhaps the world's largest collection of war, anti-war quotes:

Perhaps the world's largest war antiwar quotes

See also Power, Justice and Mercy Quotes

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