I have loved war too well.
—Louis XIV, 1715Quotes
War to the castles; peace to the cottages.
—Nicolas Chamfort, 1790War is the child of pride, and pride the daughter of riches.
—Jonathan Swift, 1697As peace is of all goodness, so war is an emblem, a hieroglyphic, of all misery.
—John Donne, 1622The fear of war is worse than war itself.
—Seneca, c. 50Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.
—Mao Zedong, 1938You furnish the pictures, and I’ll furnish the war.
—William Randolph Hearst, 1898I went [to war] because I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want the glory or the pay; I wanted the right thing done.
—Louisa May Alcott, 1863Don’t talk to me about naval tradition. It’s nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash.
—Winston Churchill, 1939Soldiers in peace are like chimneys in summer.
—William Cecil, Lord Burghley, c. 1555I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. War is hell.
—William Tecumseh Sherman, 1879You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.
—Leon TrotskyA dead enemy always smells good.
—Aulus Vitellius, 69