War and Peace

Alliance: In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted into each others' pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third.

Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, in Law and Politics and War and Peace

Cannon: An instrument used in the rectification of national boundaries.

Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, in War and Peace

Coward: one who, in a perilous emergency, thinks with his legs.

Ambrose Bierce, in Vice and Virtue and War and Peace

Riot: A popular entertainment given to the military by innocent bystanders.

Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, in War and Peace

If we fight a war and win it with H-bombs, what history will remember is not the ideals we were fighting for but the methods we used to accomplish them. These methods will be compared to the warfare of Genghis Khan who ruthlessly killed every last inhabitant of Persia.

Hans A. Bethe, in War and Peace

I always say that, next to a battle lost, the greatest misery is a battle gained.

The Duke of Wellington, in War and Peace

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

Albert Einstein, in War and Peace

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

Charles de Gaulle, in War and Peace

Conquering Russia should be done steppe by steppe.

Unknown, in War and Peace

Always remember your weapons system was made by the lowest bidder

Unknown, in War and Peace

A nuclear war can ruin your whole day.

Unknown, in War and Peace

What a strange game. The only winning move is not to play.

Unknown, (W.O.P.R. computer in War Games), in Success and Failure and War and Peace

The pen may be stronger than the sword... but I'd rather have a sword in a dark alley.

Andrew Warnick, in War and Peace

A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote in a national election.

Bill Vaughan, in Law and Politics and War and Peace