War and Peace

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

I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harms way.

John Paul Jones, in War and Peace

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

Henrik Ibsen, in War and Peace

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

Aldous Huxley, in Science and Religion and War and Peace

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

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

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

Cicero, in War and Peace

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

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

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

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

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

Winston Churchill, in War and Peace

War is not nice.

Barbara Bush, in War and Peace

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

When the rich make war it's the poor that die.

Jean-Paul Sartre, in War and Peace and Wealth and Poverty

Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons.

Bertrand Russell, in War and Peace

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

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

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

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

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

Charles de Gaulle, in War and Peace

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

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