A collection of best quotes on war, bravery and futility of wars.

Thought-Provoking Quotes On War

Human beings have been fighting wars since prehistory, ever since the notions of territory and ownership came into existence. We often read about the exploits of great kings and generals on the pages of books, and yet, we all can agree that war brings death and destruction on both sides. As we human beings have developed more advanced technology, our wars have become more devastating and further-reaching. While some have tried to justify wars by terming them as 'necessary evils' that sprout from conflicts of interest between two parties striving for existence, the Earth is bountiful enough to provide for the entire human race if we are only able to see past our greed. Moreover, history has shown us that even non-violence can achieve a lot if channeled properly. As new conflicts stir parts of the world each day, let us go through the thought-provoking quotes on war below.

God created war so that Americans would learn geography.

God created war so that Americans would learn geography.
Mark Twain

War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
George Orwell

War is what happens when language fails.

War is what happens when language fails.
Margaret Atwood

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
Albert Einstein

Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die.

Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die.
Herbert Hoover

Only the dead have seen the end of war.
Plato

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
Sun Tzu

Listen up - there's no war that will end all wars.

Listen up - there's no war that will end all wars.
Haruki Murakami

Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.

Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.
Ernest Hemingway

All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal.

All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal.
John Steinbeck

Cards are war, in disguise of a sport.
Charles Lamb

My attitude to peace is rather based on the Burmese definition of peace - it really means removing all the negative factors that destroy peace in this world. So peace does not mean just putting an end to violence or to war, but to all other factors that threaten peace, such as discrimination, such as inequality, poverty.
Aung San Suu Kyi

I have never before, in my long and eclectic career, been gifted with such an abundance of natural beauty as I experienced filming 'War Horse' on Dartmoor.

I have never before, in my long and eclectic career, been gifted with such an abundance of natural beauty as I experienced filming 'War Horse' on Dartmoor.
Steven Spielberg

War is not the only arena where peace is done to death.

War is not the only arena where peace is done to death.
Aung San Suu Kyi

My hope is that gays will be running the world, because then there would be no war. Just a greater emphasis on military apparel.

My hope is that gays will be running the world, because then there would be no war. Just a greater emphasis on military apparel.
Roseanne Barr

Circumstances cause us to act the way we do. We should always bear this in mind before judging the actions of others. I realized this from the start during World War II.

Circumstances cause us to act the way we do. We should always bear this in mind before judging the actions of others. I realized this from the start during World War II.
Thor Heyerdahl

I made 'Saving Private Ryan' for my father. He's the one who filled my head with war stories when I was growing up.

I made 'Saving Private Ryan' for my father. He's the one who filled my head with war stories when I was growing up.
Steven Spielberg

When the rich wage war it's the poor who die.

When the rich wage war it's the poor who die.
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre

War is over ... If you want it.
John Lennon

They're in love. Fuck the war.
Thomas Pynchon

If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.

If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.
Leo Tolstoy

Before statehood was achieved, Syria and Egypt had their tanks and military equipment lined up to invade Tel Aviv and destroy it; but the Israelis scrambled together an air force, some of it from old Second World War Messerschmidts, and the invasion was halted.
Steven Spielberg

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win
Sun Tzu

How is it possible to have a civil war?
George Carlin

The Japanese had a very strong belief in Bushido, death before dishonour. They were fighting for their country; they were the aggressors in World War II.

The Japanese had a very strong belief in Bushido, death before dishonour. They were fighting for their country; they were the aggressors in World War II.
Steven Spielberg

For the most part, everybody who fights in war fights to survive.

For the most part, everybody who fights in war fights to survive.
Steven Spielberg

I followed the war wherever I could reach it.

I followed the war wherever I could reach it.
Martha Gellhorn

People often tell me how much they love the digital skies that we obviously painted for 'War Horse.' Well, there's not a single sky that we put in through special effects. The skies you see in the movie are the skies that we experienced - but it was definitely challenging at times.
Steven Spielberg

Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality.

Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality.
Lewis Carroll

You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.

You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.
Albert Einstein

Before the Civil War, Canada was at the top of the underground railroad. If you made it into Canada, you were safe unless someone came and hauled you back. That was also true during the Vietnam War for draft resisters.

Before the Civil War, Canada was at the top of the underground railroad. If you made it into Canada, you were safe unless someone came and hauled you back. That was also true during the Vietnam War for draft resisters.
Margaret Atwood

I don't think that anybody in any war thinks of themselves as a hero. The minute anybody presumes that they are heroes, they get their boots taken away from them and buried in the sand.

I don't think that anybody in any war thinks of themselves as a hero. The minute anybody presumes that they are heroes, they get their boots taken away from them and buried in the sand.
Steven Spielberg

They Have Money For War But Can't Feed The Poor.

They Have Money For War But Can't Feed The Poor.
Tupac Shakur

They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason.

They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason.
Ernest Hemingway

In the re-creation of combat situations, and this is coming from a director who's never been in one, being mindful of what these veterans have actually gone through, you find that the biggest concern is that you don't look at war as a geopolitical endeavor.
Steven Spielberg

When you lose a parent at ten years old, the world seems like a much scarier place. It makes complete sense to me that I took survival courses when I was a teenager and started going to war zones as a reporter. I didn't ever want to be taken advantage of, and I wanted to be able to take care of those around me.
Anderson Cooper

I love songs about horses, railroads, land, Judgment Day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. And Mother. And God.
Johnny Cash

I interviewed survivors, I went to Poland, saw the cities and spent time with the people and spoke to the Jews who had come back to Poland after the war and talked about why they had come back.

I interviewed survivors, I went to Poland, saw the cities and spent time with the people and spoke to the Jews who had come back to Poland after the war and talked about why they had come back.
Steven Spielberg

After the desperate years of their own war, after six years of repression inside Spain and six years of horror in exile, these people remain intact in spirit. They are armed with a transcendent faith; they have never won, and yet they have never accepted defeat.
Martha Gellhorn

The leaders of the world face no greater task than that of avoiding nuclear war. While preserving the cause of freedom, we must seek abolition of war through programs of general and complete disarmament. The Test-Ban Treaty of 1963 represents a significant beginning in this immense undertaking.
Robert F. Kennedy

When diplomacy ends, War begins.
Adolf Hitler

When war comes, two things happen - profits go way, way up and all perishables go way, way down. There becomes a market for them.

When war comes, two things happen - profits go way, way up and all perishables go way, way down. There becomes a market for them.
Steven Spielberg

No one won the last war, and no one will win the next war.

No one won the last war, and no one will win the next war.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Our generation was born during the turmoil following the First World War. That war marked the dividing line - at least for the Western World - between the comfortable security of the 19th century and the instability and flux of our own time.
Robert F. Kennedy

Those who have experienced the most, have suffered so much that they have ceased to hate. Hate is more for those with a slightly guilty conscience, and who by chewing on old hate in times of peace wish to demonstrate how great they were during the war.
Thor Heyerdahl

Nobody can save you but yourself and you’re worth saving. it’s a war not easily won but if anything is worth winning then this is it.

Nobody can save you but yourself and you’re worth saving. it’s a war not easily won but if anything is worth winning then this is it.
Charles Bukowski

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
Benjamin Franklin

I found out about the Spanish war because I was in Germany when it began.

I found out about the Spanish war because I was in Germany when it began.
Martha Gellhorn

I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia.

I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia.
Woody Allen

We've seen an economy stifled by more taxes, more regulation, a war on coal and a failing health care reform come to be known as Obamacare and the American people know that we need to make a change.

We've seen an economy stifled by more taxes, more regulation, a war on coal and a failing health care reform come to be known as Obamacare and the American people know that we need to make a change.
Mike Pence

Everybody’s at war with different things…I’m at war with my own heart sometimes.

Everybody’s at war with different things…I’m at war with my own heart sometimes.
Tupac Shakur

War doesn't negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace.

War doesn't negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace." - Baba
Khaled Hosseini

The real theater of the sex war is the domestic hearth.

The real theater of the sex war is the domestic hearth.
Germaine Greer

I didn't show up at the ceremony to collect any of my first three Oscars. Once I went fishing, another time there was a war on, and on another occasion, I remember, I was suddenly taken drunk.

I didn't show up at the ceremony to collect any of my first three Oscars. Once I went fishing, another time there was a war on, and on another occasion, I remember, I was suddenly taken drunk.
John Ford

The U.N. bureaucracy has grown to elephantine proportions. Now that the Cold War is over, we are asking that elephant to do gymnastics.

The U.N. bureaucracy has grown to elephantine proportions. Now that the Cold War is over, we are asking that elephant to do gymnastics.
Madeleine Albright

The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.

The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.
Sun Tzu

It doesn't make a damned bit of difference who wins the war to someone who's dead.

It doesn't make a damned bit of difference who wins the war to someone who's dead.
Joseph Heller

For one thing, I don't think that anybody in any war thinks of themselves as a hero.

For one thing, I don't think that anybody in any war thinks of themselves as a hero.
Steven Spielberg

I know that war is very cruel and that life is harder when you aren't able to live in the place you called home.

I know that war is very cruel and that life is harder when you aren't able to live in the place you called home.
Madeleine Albright

We live in an age, in an era where there is so much negativity, there is so much violence in the world, there is so much unrest and people are at war, that I wanted to promote the word love and red signifies love.

We live in an age, in an era where there is so much negativity, there is so much violence in the world, there is so much unrest and people are at war, that I wanted to promote the word love and red signifies love.
Elton John

Then somebody suggested I should write about the war, and I said I didn't know anything about the war. I did not understand anything about it. I didn't see how I could write it.

Then somebody suggested I should write about the war, and I said I didn't know anything about the war. I did not understand anything about it. I didn't see how I could write it.
Martha Gellhorn

I would like to see every single soldier on every single side, just take off your helmet, unbuckle your kit, lay down your rifle, and set down at the side of some shady lane, and say, nope, I aint a gonna kill nobody. Plenty of rich folks wants to fight. Give them the guns.
Woody Guthrie

I loved when Bush came out and said, 'We are losing the war against drugs.'

You know what that implies? There's a war being fought, and the people on drugs are winning it.

I loved when Bush came out and said, 'We are losing the war against drugs.' You know what that implies? There's a war being fought, and the people on drugs are winning it.
Bill Hicks

The world is near escalating to World War Three and where are the leaders of each religion? Why aren't they having a conclave; why aren't they coming together?

The world is near escalating to World War Three and where are the leaders of each religion? Why aren't they having a conclave; why aren't they coming together?
Elton John

Ironically enough, the only people who can hold up indefinitely under the stress of modern war are psychotics. Individual insanity is immune to the consequences of collective insanity.

Ironically enough, the only people who can hold up indefinitely under the stress of modern war are psychotics. Individual insanity is immune to the consequences of collective insanity.
Aldous Huxley

There was never a bad peace or a good war.

There was never a bad peace or a good war.
Benjamin Franklin

I am happy to report that in the war between reality and romance, reality is not the stronger.

I am happy to report that in the war between reality and romance, reality is not the stronger.
John Steinbeck

The reality is the cap-and-trade legislation offered by the Democrats amounts to an economic declaration of war on the Midwest by liberals on Capitol Hill.

The reality is the cap-and-trade legislation offered by the Democrats amounts to an economic declaration of war on the Midwest by liberals on Capitol Hill.
Mike Pence

If Bush and Blair are eventually put on trial for war crimes, I shall not be among those pressing for them to be hanged.

If Bush and Blair are eventually put on trial for war crimes, I shall not be among those pressing for them to be hanged.
Richard Dawkins

If we fix it so's you can't make money on war, we'll all forget what we're killing folks for.

If we fix it so's you can't make money on war, we'll all forget what we're killing folks for.
Woody Guthrie

The President reminded us that the war in Iraq is a central battlefield in the war on terror that began the morning of September the 11th.

The President reminded us that the war in Iraq is a central battlefield in the war on terror that began the morning of September the 11th.
Mike Pence

The Patriot Act is essential to our continued success in the war on terror here at home.

The Patriot Act is essential to our continued success in the war on terror here at home.
Mike Pence

To live is to war with trolls.
Henrik Ibsen

So the whole war is because we can't talk to each other.

So the whole war is because we can't talk to each other.
Orson Scott Card

There is a war that makes us adore our conquerors and despise ourselves.

There is a war that makes us adore our conquerors and despise ourselves.
Arundhati Roy

Yesterday, we fought wars which destroyed cities. Today, we are concerned with avoiding a war which will destroy the earth. We can adapt atomic energy to produce electricity and move ships, but can we control its use in anger?
Robert F. Kennedy

The Quiet American is anti the people who took them into the Vietnam War.

The Quiet American is anti the people who took them into the Vietnam War.
Sir Michael Caine

In July of 2004, I came out strongly against the war with Iraq because it was going to destabilize the Middle East.

In July of 2004, I came out strongly against the war with Iraq because it was going to destabilize the Middle East.
Donald Trump

If there's a God in heaven, what's he waiting for? If He can't hear the children, then he must see the war.

If there's a God in heaven, what's he waiting for? If He can't hear the children, then he must see the war.
Elton John

People who get up early in the morning cause war, death and famine.

People who get up early in the morning cause war, death and famine.
Banksy

Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac.

Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac.
George Orwell

I was a little girl in World War II and I'm used to being freed by Americans.

I was a little girl in World War II and I'm used to being freed by Americans.
Madeleine Albright

So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.

So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.
Sun Tzu

When a nation forgets her skill in war, when her religion becomes a mockery, when the whole nation becomes a nation of money-grabbers, then the wild tribes, the barbarians drive in... Who will our invaders be? From whence will they come?
Robert E. Howard

Saddam Hussein could have provided irreplaceable help to future historians of the Iran/Iraq war, of the invasion of Kuwait, and of the subsequent era of sanctions culminating in the current invasion.

Saddam Hussein could have provided irreplaceable help to future historians of the Iran/Iraq war, of the invasion of Kuwait, and of the subsequent era of sanctions culminating in the current invasion.
Richard Dawkins

Never advise anyone to go to war or to get married. Write down the advice of him who loves you, though you like it not at present. He that has no children brings them up well.

Never advise anyone to go to war or to get married. Write down the advice of him who loves you, though you like it not at present. He that has no children brings them up well.
Germaine Greer

Why spend 18 hours watching someone else's war, when you know how it comes out? We win, and then have to buy all their cars.

Why spend 18 hours watching someone else's war, when you know how it comes out? We win, and then have to buy all their cars.
George Orson Welles

The real war will never get in the books.

The real war will never get in the books.
Walt Whitman

All oppression creates a state of war. And this is no exception.

All oppression creates a state of war. And this is no exception.
Simone de Beauvoir

'Star Wars' hasn't changed my life at all.

'Star Wars' hasn't changed my life at all.
Natalie Portman

Anyway, I'm sort of glad they've got the atomic bomb invented. If there's ever another war, I'm going to sit right the hell on top of it. I'll volunteer for it, I swear to God I will.

Anyway, I'm sort of glad they've got the atomic bomb invented. If there's ever another war, I'm going to sit right the hell on top of it. I'll volunteer for it, I swear to God I will.
J. D. Salinger

War and drink are the two things man is never too poor to buy.

War and drink are the two things man is never too poor to buy.
William Faulkner

I'm not sure that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama know that we're at war.

I'm not sure that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama know that we're at war.
Mike Pence

It is the oldest ironies that are still the most satisfying: man, when preparing for bloody war, will orate loudly and most eloquently in the name of peace.

It is the oldest ironies that are still the most satisfying: man, when preparing for bloody war, will orate loudly and most eloquently in the name of peace.
Alan Moore

This was not an act of terrorism, but it was an act of war.

This was not an act of terrorism, but it was an act of war.
George W. Bush

World War II was fought for the abolition of racial exclusiveness, equality of nations and the integrity of their territories, liberation of enslaved nations and restoration of their sovereign rights, the right of every nation to arrange its affairs as it wishes, economic aid to nations that have suffered and assistance to them in attaining their material welfare, restoration of democratic liberties, and destruction of the Hitlerite regime.
Joseph Stalin

War is to man what maternity is to a woman. From a philosophical and doctrinal viewpoint, I do not believe in perpetual peace.

War is to man what maternity is to a woman. From a philosophical and doctrinal viewpoint, I do not believe in perpetual peace.
Benito Mussolini

The condition of man... is a condition of war of everyone against everyone.

The condition of man... is a condition of war of everyone against everyone.
Thomas Hobbes

Make love, not war.
John Lennon

War alone brings up to their highest tension all human energies and imposes the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have the courage to make it.

War alone brings up to their highest tension all human energies and imposes the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have the courage to make it.
Benito Mussolini

There is the great, silent, continuous struggle: the struggle between the State and the Individual; between the State which demands and the individual who attempts to evade such demands. Because the individual, left to himself, unless he be a saint or hero, always refuses to pay taxes, obey laws, or go to war.
Benito Mussolini

Three cheers for the war. Three cheers for Italy's war and three cheers for war in general. Peace is hence absurd or rather a pause in war.

Three cheers for the war. Three cheers for Italy's war and three cheers for war in general. Peace is hence absurd or rather a pause in war.
Benito Mussolini

Thought-Provoking Quotes On War

Wedding

Will

Women

You

Young

Yourself