Aphorisms Galore!

War and Peace

74 aphorisms  ·  one comment

Aphorisms in This Category

tiny.ag/r3davdhl  ·  submitted 1997

In war, there is no substitute for victory.

Douglas MacArthur, in War and Peace

tiny.ag/piklxjab  ·  submitted 1997

There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.

Victor Hugo, in Success and Failure and War and Peace

tiny.ag/ognqp9t4  ·  submitted 1997

Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.

Aldous Huxley, in Science and Religion and War and Peace

tiny.ag/qgj3ivvu  ·  submitted 1997

You should never wear your best trousers when you go out to fight for freedom and liberty.

Henrik Ibsen, in War and Peace

tiny.ag/2flecxec  ·  submitted 1997

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.

John F. Kennedy, (inaugural speech, 1961), in Law and Politics and War and Peace

tiny.ag/la65dtiv  ·  submitted 1998

It was involuntary. They sank my boat.

John F. Kennedy, (comment when asked about his heroism), in War and Peace

tiny.ag/kxyqnliw  ·  submitted 1997

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.

John F. Kennedy, in War and Peace

tiny.ag/aolzpl1x  ·  submitted 1997

The superpowers often behave like two heavily armed blind men feeling their way around a room, each believing himself in mortal peril from the other, whom he assumes to have perfect vision. Each tends to ascribe to the other side a consistency, foresight and coherence that its own experience belies. Of course, even two blind men can do enormous damage to each other, not to speak of the room.

Henry Kissinger, in War and Peace

tiny.ag/ldizacqu  ·  submitted 1997

Foundation (paperback)

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

Isaac Asimov, Foundation (Salvor Hardin), in War and Peace and Wisdom and Ignorance

tiny.ag/pfpxawj8  ·  submitted 1997

To jaw-jaw is better than to war-war.

Winston Churchill, (on Korean War negotiations), in War and Peace

tiny.ag/dgf0pdxo  ·  submitted 1997

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.

Winston Churchill, in War and Peace

tiny.ag/ircejxuc  ·  submitted 1997

You can get more of what you want with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word.

Al Capone, in War and Peace

tiny.ag/ymliwjpf  ·  submitted 1997

War is not nice.

Barbara Bush, in War and Peace

tiny.ag/phdwhmxt  ·  submitted 1997

I prefer the most unjust peace to the most righteous war.

Cicero, in War and Peace

tiny.ag/owyunzte  ·  submitted 1997

When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite.

Winston Churchill, (on formal declarations of war), in War and Peace

tiny.ag/5mrm7cdg  ·  submitted 1997

The Greek Way (paperback)

It was a Roman who said it was sweet to die for one's country. The Greeks never said it was sweet to die for anything. They had no vital lies.

Edith Hamilton, The Greek Way, in Life and Death and War and Peace

tiny.ag/ry32bjva  ·  submitted 1997

Catch-22 (paperback)

The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on.

Joseph Heller, Catch-22, in War and Peace

tiny.ag/xm0eggq6  ·  submitted 1997

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, in War and Peace

tiny.ag/tldrjftc  ·  submitted 1997

The Devil's Dictionary (paperback)

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

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

tiny.ag/rkg7iuvl  ·  submitted 1997

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

Charles de Gaulle, in War and Peace