From Ukraine to Gaza
"Sometimes you have to pick the gun up to put the gun down."
"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
"All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal."
"God created war so that Americans would learn geography."
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron."
"Wars do not end wars any more than an extraordinarily large conflagration does away with the fire hazard."
"A pint of sweat, saves a gallon of blood."
"It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace."
"In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies."
"Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind."
"War is never a necessity, nor is it inevitable. It is always a failure of humanity."
"War is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate."
"War is what happens when language fails."
"It's not about the war. It's about the warrior."
"The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. That's the essence of it."
"There was never a good war, or a bad peace."
"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom."
"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?"
"We are advocates of the abolition of war, we do not want war; but war can only be abolished through war."
"Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war. And until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation, until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes. And until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race, there is war. And until that day, the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship, rule of international morality, will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued, but never attained... now everywhere is war."
"There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter."
"I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war."
"When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die."
"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."
Sources: (Goodreads) (BrainyQuote) (Notable Quotes)
See also: The stupidest excuses for war in history
"Every act of war is a form of theft."
"I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever-approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again."
Browse through and read the thought-provoking words on war expressed by these influential individuals.
War of the words: famous quotes on conflict
Perspectives on war from remarkable people throughout history
LIFESTYLE Curiosities
War is an incredibly impactful event. It can bring out the worst and the best in humans, but the consequences of conflict are always devastating. Throughout history until today, many famous figures have addressed war from different angles and for different reasons. In this gallery, we revisit some of history's most famous quotes on war.
Browse through and read the thought-provoking words on war expressed by these influential individuals.