TOTAL WAR WIKI

Sir, I had little hopes on Monday last but to have supped in your cabin: but it pleased God to order it otherwise. I am thankful for it. As for those cowardly captains who deserted you, hang them up, for by God they deserve it. Yours, Du Casse
Admiral Jean du Casse, to Vice-Admiral John Benbow following the Action of August 2nd 1702

When the sword is once drawn, the passions of men observe no bounds of moderation.
Alexander Hamilton, US Secretary of the Treasury, economist, and political theorist

Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.
Alexander Hamilton, US Secretary of the Treasury, economist, and political theorist

Let us recollect that peace or war will not always be left to our option; that however moderate or unambitious we may be, we cannot count upon the moderation, or hope to extinguish the ambition of others.
Alexander Hamilton, US Secretary of the Treasury, economist, and political theorist

To err is human, to forgive divine.
Alexander Pope, English poet

Pride, the never failing vice of fools.
Alexander Pope, English poet

Wars are always fought for old men, by young boys.
anon

History repeats itself because no one was listening the first time.
anon

We make war that we may live in peace.
Aristotle, Greek philosopher

The most persistent sound which reverberates through man’s history is the beating of war drums.
Arthur Koestler, Hungarian Jewish author and polymath

Intellect is invisible to the man who has none.
Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher

Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

The hardest thing of all for a soldier is to retreat.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but by God, they frighten me.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

The whole art of war consists in getting at what is on the other side of the hill.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

Up, Guards, and at 'em.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

The only thing I am afraid of is fear.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

Hard pounding, gentlemen. Let's see who pounds the longest.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

We always have been, we are, and I hope that we always shall be detested in France.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

As Lord Chesterfield said of the generals of his day, 'I only hope that when the enemy reads the list of their names, he trembles as I do.'
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

I used to say of him that his presence on the field made the difference of forty thousand men.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister, speaking of Napoleon

I never saw so many shocking bad hats in my life.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister, upon entering the House of Commons

Strange, that I came into the world with nothing, and now I am going away with this stupendous caravan of sin! Wherever I look, I see only God… I have sinned terribly, and I do not know what punishment awaits me.
Aurangzeb, the last Mughal Emperor, on his deathbed

The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out.
Baron Thomas Babington Macaulay, British poet, historian, and MP

I have been apt to think that there has never been, nor ever will be, any such thing as a good war, or a bad peace.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

He that would live in peace and at ease, must not speak all he knows or all he sees.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

Even peace may be purchased at too high a price.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

'Tis a common observation here that our cause is the cause of all mankind, and that we are fighting for their liberty in defending our own.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

You may delay, but time will not.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

Words may show a man's wit, but actions his meaning.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

There is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more easily and frequently fall than that of defrauding the government.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

Man will ultimately be governed by God or by tyrants.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth - that God Governs the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

To be thrown upon one's own resources, is to be cast into the very lap of fortune; for our faculties then undergo a development and display an energy of which they were previously unsusceptible.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, and scientist

Rule 1, on page 1 of the book of war, is: 'Do not march on Moscow'… Rule 2 is: 'Do not go fighting with your land armies in China.'
Bernard Law Montgomery, British general

War always finds a way.
Bertolt Brecht, German poet and playwright

War is nothing but a duel on a larger scale.
Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian general and military theorist

The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan.
Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian general and military theorist

No one starts a war - or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so - without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war, and how he intends to conduct it.
Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian general and military theorist

Close combat, man to man, is plainly to be regarded as the real basis of combat.
Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian general and military theorist

War is nothing but a continuation of politics with the admixture of other means.
Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian general and military theorist

The great uncertainty of all data in war is because all action, to a certain extent, planned in a mere twilight - like the effect of a fog - gives things exaggerated dimensions and unnatural appearance.
Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian general and military theorist

For a soldier I listed, to grow great in fame, And be shot at for six-pence a day.
Charles Dibdin, British dramatist and musician, "Charity" 1791

I die happy.
Charles Fox, English politician, his last words

Stand by me, my brave grenadiers!
Charles Lee, US general, his last words

I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse.
Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor

I have resolved never to start an unjust war, but never to end a legitimate one except by defeating my enemies.
Charles XII, King of Sweden

Don’t be afraid!
Charles XII, King of Sweden, his last words before being killed in battle

War is too much a serious thing to be left to military men.
Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, French diplomat

Mistrust first impulses, they are nearly always good.
Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, French diplomat

Cedant arma togae, concedant laurea laudi. (Let war yield to peace, laurels to paeans.)
Cicero, Roman statesman and philosopher

Nervos belli, pecuniam infinitam. (The sinews of war, unlimited money.)
Cicero, Roman statesman and philosopher

Silent enim leges inter arma. (Laws are silent in times of war.)
Cicero, Roman statesman and philosopher

An army must inevitably consist of the scum of the people and all those for which society has no use.
Comte de Saint-Germain, French courtier and alchemist

Is this dying? Is this all? Is this what I feared when I prayed against a hard death? Oh, I can bear this! I can bear this!
Cotton Mather, American puritan minister, his last words

We have won a victory, but may I never see such another.
Count Maurice de Saxe, French general, 11th May 1745, Battle of Fontenoy

Let all brave Prussians follow me!
Count von Sedgewick, Prussian general, his last words prior to being killed by a cannonball

Oh dear…
David Garrick, British actor and theatre manager, his last words

There is no true sovereign except the nation; there can be no true legislator except the people.
Denis Diderot, French writer and natural philosopher

I am about to - or I am going to - die; either expression is correct.
Dominique Bouhours, French Jesuit grammarian, his last words

In war, indeed, there can be no substitute for victory.
Douglas MacArthur, US general

The violence of war admits no distinction; the lance, that is lifted at guilt and power, will sometimes fall on innocence and gentleness.
Dr Samuel Johnson, essayist, biographer, and poet

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Dr Samuel Johnson, essayist, biographer, and poet

Much may be made of a Scotchman, if he be caught young.
Dr Samuel Johnson, essayist, biographer, and poet

To a people warlike and indigent, an incursion into a rich country is never hurtful.
Dr Samuel Johnson, essayist, biographer, and poet

Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must be first overcome.
Dr Samuel Johnson, essayist, biographer, and poet

No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in jail, with a chance of being drowned… A man in jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company.
Dr Samuel Johnson, essayist, biographer, and poet

Liberty, too, must be limited in order to be possessed.
Edmund Burke, British author, philosopher, and political theorist

You can never play the future by the past.
Edmund Burke, British author, philosopher, and political theorist

When bad men combine, the good must associate else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
Edmund Burke, British author, philosopher, and political theorist

All that is essential for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Edmund Burke, British author, philosopher, and political theorist

I venture to say no war can be long carried on against the will of the people.
Edmund Burke, British author, philosopher, and political theorist

Wars are just to those to whom they are necessary.
Edmund Burke, British author, philosopher, and political theorist

We improve ourselves by victories over ourself. There must be contests, and you must win.
Edward Gibbon, English historian and MP

History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.
Edward Gibbon, English historian and MP

As long as mankind shall continue to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers than on their benefactors, the thirst of military glory will ever be the vice of the most exalted characters.
Edward Gibbon, English historian and MP

The Lord is a man of war.
Exodus 15.3

It is your attitude, and the suspicion that you are maturing the boldest designs against him, that imposes on your enemy.
Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia

Without supplies no army is brave.
Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia

Rascals, do you want to live forever?
Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia

The most certain way of ensuring victory is to march briskly and in good order against the enemy, always endeavouring to gain ground.
Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia

Everything which the enemy least expects will succeed the best.
Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia

Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be an ugly brawl.
Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia

Do not forget your dogs of war, your big guns, which are the most-to-be respected arguments of the rights of kings.
Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia

If soldiers were to begin to think, not one of them would remain in the army.
Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia

A defensive war is apt to betray us into too frequent detachment. Those generals who have had but little experience attempt to protect every point, while those who are better acquainted with their profession, having only the capital object in view, guard against a decisive blow, and acquiesce in small misfortunes to avoid greater.
Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia

We are made for action, and activity is the sovereign remedy for all physical ills.
Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia

The Empress Catherine and I are simple robbers. I just would like to know how the Empress Maria-Theresa calmed down her father confessor? She cried when she took; the more she cried, the more she took!?
Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia

The most beautiful girl or woman in the world would be a matter of indifference to me, but tall soldiers - they are my weakness.
Frederick William I, King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg

No, not quite naked. I shall have my uniform on.
Frederick William I, King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg, his last words

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher

Against stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain.
Friedrich von Schiller, German poet and philosopher

A historian is a prophet in reverse.
Friedrich von Schlegel, German poet

Mad, is he? Then I hope that he will bite some of my other generals!
George III, King of Great Britain, speaking of General Wolfe

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
George Orwell, British author and journalist

To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.
George Washington, 1st US President

War - an act of violence whose object is to constrain the enemy, to accomplish our will.
George Washington, 1st US President

Over-grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.
George Washington, 1st US President

My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth.
George Washington, 1st US President

Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable, procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.
George Washington, 1st US President

Every post is honourable in which a man can serve his country.
George Washington, 1st US President

To place any dependence upon militia, is, assuredly, resting upon a broken staff.
George Washington, 1st US President

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
George Washington, 1st US President

The constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure.
George Washington, 1st US President

T'is well.
George Washington, 1st US President, his last words

I would rather wear out than rust out.
George Whitefield, British Methodist preacher

Show my head to the people. It is worth seeing.
Georges Danton, French radical, his last words before being guillotined

I have lived as a philosopher and die as a Christian.
Giacomo Casanova, Venetian clergyman, soldier, musician, and alchemist, his last words

Men rush to arms for slight causes, or no cause at all, and once taken up there is no longer any respect for law, divine or human.
Huig de Groot, Dutch jurist and philosopher

Prudence approaches, conscience accuses.
Immanuel Kant, Prussian philosopher and geographer

In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.
Immanuel Kant, Prussian philosopher and geographer

Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.
Immanuel Kant, Prussian philosopher and geographer

So act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world.
Immanuel Kant, Prussian philosopher and geographer

Ultima Ratio Regum. (The final argument of kings.)
Inscription on French cannons, by order of Louis XIV

Men are wise in proportion, not to their experience, but to their capacity for experience.
James Boswell, Scottish diarist and author of "The Life of Samuel Johnson"

Tell the men to fire faster and not to give up the ship; fight her till she sinks.
James Lawrence, US naval captain, his last words

You give me a credit to which I have no claim in calling me 'the writer of the Constitution of the United States'. This was not, like the fabled Goddess of Wisdom, the offspring of a single brain. It ought to be regarded as the work of many heads and many hands.
James Madison, 4th US President

A popular Government without popular information nor the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives.
James Madison, 4th US President

It was by the sober sense of our citizens that we were safely and steadily conducted from monarchy to republicanism, and it is by the same agency alone we can be kept from falling back.
James Madison, 4th US President

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives.
James Madison, 4th US President

Don’t give up the ship!
James Mugford, US naval captain, his last words

What, do they run already? Then I die happy.
James Wolfe, English general, his last words following news of the fall of Quebec

Duty is heavier than iron, yet death is lighter than a feather.
Japanese proverb

They shall all be guillotined.
Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary, his last words

You must either conquer and rule or serve and lose, suffer or triumph, be the anvil or the hammer.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and polymath

Divide and rule, a sound motto. Unite and lead, a better one.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and polymath

The essence of war is violence. Moderation in war is imbecility.
John (Jackie) Arbuthnot Fisher, British admiral

If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.
John Adams, 2nd US President

Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war.
John Adams, 2nd US President

We're in a war, dammit! We're going to have to offend somebody!
John Adams, 2nd US President

I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than the means.
John Adams, 2nd US President

I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.
John Adams, 2nd US President

For God's Sake be sure you do not risk the cannon.
John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, British general

War is the trade of kings.
John Dryden, English poet and playwright

I would sooner fail than not be among the greatest.
John Keats, British poet

New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.
John Locke, English philosopher

All men are liable to error; and most men are, in many points, by passion or interest, under temptation to it.
John Locke, English philosopher

None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but licence.
John Milton, English poet

Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe.
John Milton, English poet

I have not yet begun to fight!
John Paul Jones, US naval captain

What? Men dodging this way for single bullets? What will you do when they open fire along the whole line? I am ashamed of you. They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance…
John Sedgwick, US general, his last words before being killed by a sniper

My voice is still for war.
Joseph Addison, English poet and essayist

From hence, let fierce contending nations know, what dire effects from civil discord flow.
Joseph Addison, English poet and essayist

Every nation has the government that it deserves.
Joseph de Maistre, Savoyard lawyer and diplomat

I die.
Leonard Euler, Swiss mathematician, his last words

Gentlemen of France, perhaps you would care to fire first?
Lord Hay, British general, 11 May 1745, Battle of Fontenoy

You must consider every man your enemy who speaks ill of your King, and you must treat every Frenchman as if he were the Devil himself.
Lord Horatio Nelson, British admiral

No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.
Lord Horatio Nelson, British admiral

England expects that every man will do his duty.
Lord Horatio Nelson, British admiral, 21st October 1805, Battle of Trafalgar

Thank God I have done my duty.
Lord Horatio Nelson, British admiral, 21st October 1805, Battle of Trafalgar, his last words

First feelings are always the most natural.
Louis XIV, King of France, "The Sun King"

I die innocent of all the crimes laid to my charge; I pardon those who have occasioned my death; and I pray to God that the blood you are going to shed may never be visited on France.
Louis XVI, King of France, his last words before being guillotined

Oh Liberty! Liberty! What crimes are committed in your name!
Madame Roland, French revolutionary, her last words before being guillotined

In an age that is utterly corrupt, the best policy is to do as others do.
Marquis de Sade, French aristocrat and novelist

I have seen what I never thought to be possible - a single line of infantry break through three lines of cavalry ranks, in order of battle, and tumble them to ruin.
Marquis Louis de Contades, French general, 1st August 1759, Battle of Minden

It has all been most interesting.
Mary Wortley, Lady Montagu, her last words

An army marches on its stomach.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Remember, gentlemen, what a Roman emperor said: "The corpse of an enemy always smells sweet."
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Charges of cavalry are equally useful at the beginning, the middle and the end of a battle. They should be made always, if possible, on the flanks of the infantry, especially when the latter is engaged in front.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Artillery is more essential to cavalry than to infantry, because cavalry has no fire for its defence, but depends on the sabre.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Between a battle lost and a battle won, the distance is immense and there stand empires.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Soldiers! Here is the battle you have so long desired! Henceforth victory depends on you; we have need of it.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

In revolution there are only two sorts of men, those who cause them and those who profit by them.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Imagination rules the world.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

You must not fear death, my lads; defy him, and you drive him into the enemy's ranks.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

In war the simplest manoeuvres are the best.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Ability is nothing without opportunity.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Read over and over again the campaigns of Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus, Turenne, Eugene and Frederic… This is the only way to become a great general and master the secrets of the art of war.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

In war, three-quarters turns on personal character and relations; the balance of manpower and materials counts only for the remaining quarter.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

I have only one regret, that I have only one life to give for my country.
Nathan Hale, US spy, his last words prior to his execution for treason by the British, 1776

War ought to be the only study of a prince. He ought to consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes ability to execute military plans.
Niccolò Machiavelli, Florentine historian and author

We English are good at forgiving our enemies; it releases us from the obligation of liking our friends.
P.D. James, British author

The battle, Sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
Patrick Henry, American governor and radical

Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!
Patrick Henry, American governor and radical

If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable; and let it come! I repeat, Sir, let it come!
Patrick Henry, American governor and radical

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
Patrick Henry, American governor and radical

Duty and dereliction guide thee back to solitude.
Percy Bysshe Shelley, British poet

It's magnificent, but it's not war.
Pierre Bosquet, French general, observing the Charge of the Light Brigade, 25th October 1854

One minute can decide the outcome of the battle, one hour - the outcome of the campaign, and one day - the fate of the country.
Prince Aleksandr V. Suvorov, Count of Rymnik, Russian general

Win with ability, not with numbers.
Prince Aleksandr V. Suvorov, Count of Rymnik, Russian general

Accustom yourself to tireless activity.
Prince Aleksandr V. Suvorov, Count of Rymnik, Russian general

When the enemy is driven back, we have failed, and when he is cut off, encircled and dispersed, we have succeeded.
Prince Aleksandr V. Suvorov, Count of Rymnik, Russian general

The bullet is a mad thing, only the bayonet knows what it is about.
Prince Aleksandr V. Suvorov, Count of Rymnik, Russian general

The Church will pray to God for the dead. The survivor has honour and glory.
Prince Aleksandr V. Suvorov, Count of Rymnik, Russian general

The more comfort, the less courage there is.
Prince Aleksandr V. Suvorov, Count of Rymnik, Russian general

If we had not driven them into hell, hell would have swallowed us.
Prince Aleksandr V. Suvorov, Count of Rymnik, Russian general

When a man is able to take abuse with a smile, he is worthy to become a leader.
Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Nachman from Uman, Ukrainian Jewish teacher and spiritual leader

What two ideas are more inseparable than Beer and Britannia?
Reverend Sydney Smith, English clergyman and writer

There's only one truth about war: people die.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Irish playwright and MP

It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it.
Robert E. Lee, US general

Let us do evil, that good may come?
Romans 3:8

The country shall be independent, and we will be satisfied with nothing short of it.
Samuel Adams, US statesman, writer, and political theorist

If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget ye were our countrymen.
Samuel Adams, US statesman, writer, and political theorist

Both regiments or none.
Samuel Adams, US statesman, writer, and political theorist

By push of bayonets, no firing until you see the whites in their eyes!
Sir Andrew Agnew of Lochnaw, British colonel

The British Army should be a projectile to be fired by the British Navy.
Sir Edward Grey, British MP, speaking to the House of Commons

I seem to have been only a boy playing on the seashore and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or prettier shell than ordinary, while the ocean of truth lay undiscovered before me.
Sir Isaac Newton, English physicist

Nothing is so evident...as that war is inconsistent with the prosperity of a modern state
Sir James Denham-Steuart, British economist

Hail to the chief in triumph advances.
Sir Walter Scott, Scottish poet and novelist

All war is deception.
Sun Tzu, Chinese general and author of The Art of War

The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities...It is best to win without fighting.
Sun Tzu, Chinese general and author of The Art of War

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.
Sun Tzu, Chinese general and author of The Art of War

One need not destroy one's enemy. One need only destroy his willingness to engage.
Sun Tzu, Chinese general and author of The Art of War

Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.
Sun Tzu, Chinese general and author of The Art of War

To capture the enemy's entire army is better than to destroy it; to take intact a regiment, a company, or a squad is better than to destroy them. For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the supreme of excellence. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence.
Sun Tzu, Chinese general and author of The Art of War

This does not mean that the enemy is to be allowed to escape. The object is to make him believe that there is a road to safety, and thus prevent his fighting with the courage of despair. After that, you may crush him.
Sun Tzu, Chinese general and author of The Art of War

Think what thousands fell in vain, Wasted with disease and anguish, Not in glorious battle slain.
The ballad of "Admiral Hosier's Ghost", 1726, based on a real event where 4000 of 4760 men died of disease in a single expedition

I see that you have made three spelling mistakes.
Thomas de Mahay, Marquis de Favras, French aristocrat, his last words upon reading his death sentence before being guillotined

War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor reading.
Thomas Hardy, British novelist

Ben Battle was a soldier bold, and used to war's alarms, But a cannon-ball took off his legs, so he laid down his arms.
Thomas Hood, British poet and humourist, "Faithless Nelly Gray", 1826

For here I leave my second leg, And the Forty-Second Foot.
Thomas Hood, British poet and humourist, "Faithless Nelly Gray", 1826

Beer is proof that God wants us to be happy.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President

The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President

It is reasonable that everyone who asks justice should do justice.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President

From time to time, the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President

In matters of style swim with the current, in matters of principle stand like a rock.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President

Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President

War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President

If ever there was a holy war, it was that which saved our liberties and gave us independence.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President

We prefer war in all cases to tribute under any form and to any people whatever.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President

I have seen enough of one war never to wish to see another.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President

The greatest [calamity] which could befall [us would be] submission to a government of unlimited powers.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President

This is the fourth?
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President, his last words

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
Thomas Paine, British radical, pamphleteer, and intellectual

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
Thomas Paine, British radical, pamphleteer, and intellectual

Character is much easier kept than recovered.
Thomas Paine, British radical, pamphleteer, and intellectual

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
Thomas Paine, British radical, pamphleteer, and intellectual

Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
Thomas Paine, British radical, pamphleteer, and intellectual

From such beginnings of governments, what could be expected, but a continual system of war and extortion?
Thomas Paine, British radical, pamphleteer, and intellectual

The cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf.
Thomas Paine, British radical, pamphleteer, and intellectual

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.
US Declaration Of Independence, July 4th 1776, regarding King George III of Great Britain

Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. (Let him who desires peace, prepare for war.)
Vegetius, Roman writer

No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking.
Voltaire, French author, wit, and philosopher

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
Voltaire, French author, wit, and philosopher

God is not on the side of the big battalions, but on the side of those who shoot best.
Voltaire, French author, wit, and philosopher

Where some states possess an army, the Prussian Army possesses a state.
Voltaire, French author, wit, and philosopher

In this country we find it pays to shoot an admiral from time to time to encourage the others.
Voltaire, French author, wit, and philosopher

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire, French author, wit, and philosopher

Fear comes from uncertainty. When we are absolutely certain, whether of our worth or worthlessness, we are almost impervious to fear.
William Congreve, English dramatist

Admirals extolled for standing still, or doing nothing with a deal of skill.
William Cowper, British poet, "Table Talk", 1782

War's a game, which, were their subjects wise, Kings would not play at.
William Cowper, British poet

A noisy man is always in the right.
William Cowper, British poet

There is one certain means by which I can be sure never to see my country's ruin: I will die in the last ditch.
William III, King of England

The air of England is too pure for a slave to breathe, and so everyone who breathes it becomes free. Everyone who comes to this island is entitled to the protection of English law, whatever oppression he may have suffered and whatever may be the colour of his skin.
William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, British judge, speaking on slavery, 1772

Where a goat can go, a man can go, where a man can go, he can drag a gun.
William Phillips, British artillery general

If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I would never lay down my arms - never - never - never!
William Pitt the Elder, British Prime Minister

Where laws end, tyranny begins.
William Pitt the Elder, British Prime Minister

Oh, my country! How I leave my country!
William Pitt the Younger, British Prime Minister, his last words

Never do today what you can put off 'til tomorrow.
William Pulteney, Earl of Bath, English MP

Let me have war, say I; it exceeds peace as far as day does night; it’s spritely, waking, audible, and full of vent.
William Shakespeare, English playwright

Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war!
William Shakespeare, English playwright

Those entrusted with arms should be persons of some substance and stake in the country.
William Windham, British MP

Not without hope we suffer and we mourn.
William Wordsworth, British poet

Strongest minds are often those whom the noisy world hears least.
William Wordsworth, British poet

The good die first, and they whose hearts are dry as summer burn to the socket.
William Wordsworth, British poet

Like an army defeated the snow hath retreated.
William Wordsworth, British poet

Louis XVI of France: "Is it a revolt?" A Duke of France: "No, Sir, it's a revolution."
Louis XVI, King of France, upon hearing of the revolution

There are so few who can grow old with a good grace.
Sir Richard Steele, Irish writer and publisher

No one can guarantee success in war, but only deserve it.
Sir Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister

No truly great man ever thought himself so.
William Hazlitt, English essayist and critic

Remorse, the fatal egg by pleasure laid.
William Cowper, British poet

Glory built on selfish principles is shame and guilt.
William Cowper, British poet

Never esteem men on account of their riches or their station. Respect goodness, find it where you may.
William Cobbett, English pamphleteer

There is no mistake so great as the mistake of not going on.
William Blake, English engraver, illustrator, and poet

A truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent.
William Blake, English engraver, illustrator, and poet

I love fun, but too much is abominable.
William Blake, English engraver, illustrator, and poet

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
William Blake, English engraver, illustrator, and poet

Fable convenue (Fable agreed upon)
Voltaire, French author, wit, and philosopher, his view of history

When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.
Thomas Paine, British radical, pamphleteer, and intellectual

The first duty of man is that of subduing fear.
Thomas Carlyle, Scottish essayist and historian

Surtout, pas de zéle (Above all, no zeal)
Talleyrand, French diplomat, his advice to other French diplomats.

I am more afraid of an army of a hundred sheep led by a lion than an army of a hundred lions led by a sheep.
Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, French diplomat

The love of glory can only create a great hero; the contempt of it creates a great man.
Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, French diplomat

La parole nous a été donnée pour déguiser notre pensée (We were given speech to hide our thoughts)
Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, French diplomat

Celui qui n'a pas vécu au dix-huitième siècle avant la Révolution ne connaît pas la douceur de vivre (Those who haven't lived in the eighteenth century before the Revolution do not know the sweetness of living)
Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, French diplomat

I always fear that creation will expire before teatime.
Reverend Sydney Smith, English clergyman and writer

Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never desert your line of talent. Be what nature intended you for and you will succeed.
Reverend Sydney Smith, English clergyman and writer

Never try to reason the prejudice out of a man. It was not reasoned into him, and cannot be reasoned out.
Reverend Sydney Smith, English clergyman and writer

Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.
Dr Samuel Johnson, essayist, biographer, and poet

Hope is necessary in every condition.
Dr Samuel Johnson, essayist, biographer, and poet

Haste is good only for catching flies.
Russian proverb

A wet man does not fear rain.
Russian proverb

I am absolutely undone.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Irish playwright and MP, his last words.

La garde meurt et ne se rend pas (The guard dies, it does not surrender)
Pierre Cambronne, French general, when asked to surrender at the Battle of Waterloo.

Man is a military animal; glories in gunpowder and loves parades.
Philip James Bailey, English poet

An economist is a surgeon with an excellent scalpel and a rough-edged lancet, who operates beautifully on the dead and tortures the living.
Nicolas Chamfort, French writer

That man made me miss my destiny.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

It is cowardly to commit suicide. The English often kill themselves. It is a malady caused by the humid climate.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

There are only two forces that unite men: fear and interest.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

In victory, you deserve champagne; in defeat, you need it.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

When soldiers brave death, they drive him into the enemy's ranks.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

What my enemies call a general peace is my destruction. What I call peace is merely the disarmament of my enemies. Am I not more moderate than they?
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

War justifies everything.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

War is cruel to the people, and terrible to the conquered.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Victory and disaster establish indestructible bonds between armies and their commanders.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

To extraordinary circumstance we must apply extraordinary remedies.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

There are no bad regiments; there are only bad colonels.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Prussia was hatched from a cannon ball.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

A victorious general must know how to employ severity, justness, and mildness by turns, if he would allay sedition or prevent it.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

When defending itself against another country, a nation never lacks men, but too often, soldiers.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

You cannot stop me; I spend thirty thousand men a month.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Man, not men, is the most important consideration.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

The mind of a general ought to resemble and be as clear as the field-glass of a telescope.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

The art of land warfare is an art of genius, of inspiration. On the sea nothing is genius or inspiration; everything is positive or empiric.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

The allies we gain by victory will turn against us upon the bare whisper of our defeat.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

The admiral needs only one science, that of navigation. The general needs all the sciences.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Nothing is so important in war as an undivided command.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

It is with artillery that war is made.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

It is not set speeches at the moment of battle that render soldiers brave.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

It is exceptional and difficult to find in one man all the qualities necessary for a great general.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Insubordination may only be the evidence of a strong mind.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

In war, men are nothing, one man is everything.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

In war, as in love, we must come into contact before we triumph.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

In politics, absurdity is not a handicap.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

I have fought sixty battles, and I have learnt nothing which I did not know at the beginning.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

I engage and after that I see what to do.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Good infantry is without doubt the sinews of an army; but if it has to fight a long time against very superior artillery, it will become demoralized and will be destroyed.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

From these pyramids, forty centuries gaze down upon you.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Every means should be taken to attach the soldier to his colours.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

England is a nation of shopkeepers.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Better to have a known enemy than a forced ally.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

At the head of an army, nothing is more becoming than simplicity.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

An army must have but one line of operations. This must be maintained with care and abandoned only for major reasons.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

An army marches on its stomach.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

All generals, officers, and soldiers who capitulate in battle to save their own lives should be decimated.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

A starving army is actually worse than none.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of coloured ribbon.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

A leader is a dealer in hope.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor and general

Crime butchers innocence to secure a throne, and innocence struggles with all its might against the attempts of crime.
Maximilien Robespierre, French revolutionary

It is only when aggression is legitimate that one can expect prodigies of valour.
Marshall Michel Ney, French general

Nothing is more intolerable than to have to admit to yourself your own errors.
Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer

Anyone who tells a lie has not a pure heart, and cannot make a good soup.
Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer

To know how to wait is the great secret of success.
Joseph de Maistre, Savoyard lawyer and diplomat

All are born to observe order, but few are born to establish it.
Joseph Joubert, French essayist

Here lies one whose name was writ in water.
John Keats, British poet, inscribed on his gravestone

No price is too great to preserve the health of the fleet.
John Jervis, Lord St. Vincent, British admiral

Impotent hatred is the most horrible of all emotions; one should hate nobody whom one cannot destroy.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and polymath

The first and last thing required of genius is the love of truth.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and polymath

In the realm of ideas, everything depends on enthusiasm. In the real world all rests on perseverance.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and polymath

Doubt grows with knowledge.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and polymath

When ideas fail, words come in very handy.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and polymath

There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and polymath

Correction does much, but encouragement does more. Encouragement after censure is as the sun after a shower.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and polymath

A dinner which ends without cheese is like a beautiful woman with only one eye.
Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, French politician and gastronome

Like the greatest virtue and the worst dogs, the fiercest hatred is silent.
Jean-Paul Richter, German author

The best armour is to keep out of gunshot.
Italian proverb

To do nothing was disgraceful; therefore I made use of my understanding.
Lord Horatio Nelson, British admiral, after the Battle of the Nile

What the country needs is the annihilation of the enemy.
Lord Horatio Nelson, British admiral

Laurels grow in the Bay of Biscay, I hope a bed of them may be found in the Mediterranean.
Lord Horatio Nelson, British admiral

Hardy, I do believe they have done it at last… my backbone is shot through.
Lord Horatio Nelson, British admiral

Frigates are the eyes of a fleet.
Lord Horatio Nelson, British admiral

First gain the victory and then make the best use of it you can.
Lord Horatio Nelson, British admiral

Duty is the great business of a sea officer; all private considerations must give way to it, however painful it may be.
Lord Horatio Nelson, British admiral

Desperate affairs require desperate remedies.
Lord Horatio Nelson, British admiral

A ship's a fool to fight a fort.
Lord Horatio Nelson, British admiral

One should forgive one's enemies, but not before they are hanged.
Heinrich Heine, German journalist, essayist, and romantic poet

The people are that part of the state that does not know what it wants.
G.W.F. Hegel, German idealist philosopher

L'Ennemi ne s'endort (The enemy never sleeps)
French proverb

Au royaume des aveugles les borgnes sont rois (In the kingdom of the blind the one-eyed are kings)
French proverb

Attaque, toujours l'attaque (The attack, always the attack)
French proverb

Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera (Help yourself and heaven will help you)
French proverb

A vieux comptes nouvelles disputes (Old accounts breed new disputes)
French proverb

Opinions founded on prejudice are always sustained with the greatest of violence.
Francis Jeffrey, Scottish literary critic and jurist

Total war is the most humane in the long run.
Extract from "That Hideous Strength" by C.S. Lewis

The age of chivalry is gone; and that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded.
Extract from "Reflections on the Revolution in France" by Edmund Burke

How wonderful is Death? Death, and his brother Sleep!
Extract from "Queen Mab" by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!
Extract from "Mamion" by Sir Walter Scott

We wage no war with women nor with priests.
Extract from "Madoc" by Robert Southey

As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.
Extract from "Faust" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
English proverb

The more a leader is in the habit of demanding from his men, the surer he will be that his demands will be answered.
Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian general and military theorist

The heart of France lies between Brussels and Paris.
Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian general and military theorist

Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.
Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian general and military theorist

Desperate affairs require desperate remedies.
Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian general and military theorist

Battles decide everything.
Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian general and military theorist

The only thing that they can be relied on to do is to gallop too far and too fast.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister, his view of cavalry

He is no gentleman.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister, speaking of Napoleon

There is nothing on earth so stupid as a gallant officer.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

The British soldiers are fellows who have all enlisted for drink. That is the plain fact - they have all enlisted for drink.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

Next to a lost battle, nothing is so sad as a battle that has been won.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

It is not the business of generals to shoot one another.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister, watching Napoleon leave the field at Waterloo

Do the business of the day in the day.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

Believe me, every man you see in a military uniform is not a hero.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavour to find out what you don't know by what you do; that's what I called "guessing what was on the other side of the hill".
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

A great country cannot wage a little war.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see.
Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher

Every nation ridicules other nations, and all are right.
Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher

A great captain can only be formed by long experience and intense study.
Charles, Archduke of Austria

Go my friend, dispatch poor Vasiliky, that these dogs may not profane her beauteous form.
Ali Pasha, Turkish leader - 'The Lion of Janina', his last words

Liberté, égalité, fraternité (Liberty, equality, fraternity)
A slogan of the French Revolution

You sir, have an army. We have a travelling brothel.
A captured French officer in conversation with Wellington