From the start, war was civilisation’s dark shadow. Richard Miles, Ancient Worlds I: Come Together, BBC 2010
There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others. Niccolo Machiavelli
War grows out of the desire of the individual to gain advantage at the expense of his fellow man. Napoleon Hill
I suppose one of the secrets of success in war has always been preparedness. Anticipating the threat and knowing how to react to it. And where. And when. And then doing what you had to do with surgical precision. James Burke, Connections s2e20: Flexible Response, BBC 1994
The longbow was called the longbow because it was six foot long, and it was a medieval terror weapon. ibid.
Wars are not affordable things. Wolf Hall I ***** Cromwell to Henry, BBC 2015
This war is just begun. It will last for years. Thousands will die at your command ... You will be king. Game of Thrones s2e10: Valar Morghulis, red-headed woman
I wish you good fortune in the wars to come. Game of Thrones s5e1: The Wars to Come
The thee-eyed raven says there’s a war coming. Game of Thrones s6e2: Homeward Bound, boy
There is only one war that matters: the Great War. And it is here. Game of Thrones s7e7, The Dragon and the Wolf
If anyone survives the war to come, we’ll have Jon to thank … We must fight together now or die. Game of Thrones s8e1: Winterfell, Tyrion
Every man should lose a battle in his youth, so he does not lose a war when he is old. George R R Martin, A Feast for Crows
History is littered with the wars which everybody knew would never happen. Enoch Powell, speech 19th October 1967
Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change. Muhammad Ali, cited Don’t Stop Believing: Pop Culture and Religion
In a war you always fought against those you are closest to. The Office US s5e24: Heavy Competition
Perkins, I want you to lay down your life. We need a futile gesture at this stage. To raise the whole tone of the war. Beyond the Fringe, Peter Cook to Jonathan Miller
War! Huh? What is it good for? Well, for start, it sorts out who is the strongest out of the two countries. Also, you get to see some amazing explosions. But there is some people out there who not only don’t enjoy the war, but they try to spoil the fun for everyone else. And those chickens is called the UN. Me went to New York to meet these player-haters. Sacha Baron Cohen, Da Ali G Show sketch ‘War’ 28th February 2003
I is here standing outside the United Nations of Benetton. Which is where representatives from the three corners of the world come to end wars, international drug trafficking, and everything else that is a bit of a laugh. ibid.
How is the world ruled and how do wars start? Diplomats tell lies to journalists and then believe what they read. Karl Kraus, Aphorisms and More Aphorisms, 1909
I’d been to a number of war zones before in my life, but I had never been in one as terrifying as Chechnya. Scott Anderson
I’m fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in. George S McGovern
The Gatling’s jammed and the Colonel dead
And the regiment blind with dust and smoke;
The river of death has brimmed his banks,
And England’s far, and Honour a name;
But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks:
‘Play up! play up! and play the game!’ Henry Newbolt’s Vitai Lampada
You should reach the limits of virtue, before you cross the border of death. Tyrtaeus, Spartan poet
How glorious fall the valiant, sword in hand, in front of battle for their native land! Tyrtaeus
Rise up, warriors, take your stand at one another’s sides, our feet set wide and rooted like oaks in the ground. Tyrtaeus
Learn to love death’s ink-black shadow as much as you love the light of dawn. Tyrtaeus
Here is courage, mankind’s finest possession, here is the noblest prize that a young man can endeavour to win. Tyrtaeus
Hey, Ray, we started a war here. Wars are good for business. One in the Chamber 2012 starring Guba Gooding junior & Dolph Lundgren & Claudia Bassols & Andrew Bicknell & Catalin Babliuc & Louis Madylor & Leo Gregory & Lia Sinchevici & George Remes & Alin Panc & Billy Murray & Florin Roata et al, director William Kaufman, bloke on bus
The moment war is declared ... the mass of the people, through some spiritual alchemy, become convinced that they have willed and executed the deed themselves. They then, with the exception of a few malcontents, proceed to allow themselves to be regimented, coerced, deranged in all the environments of their lives, and turned into a solid manufactory of destruction toward whatever other people may have, in the appointed scheme of things, come within the range of the Government’s disapprobation ...
The State is the organization of the herd to act offensively or defensively against another herd similarly organized ...
War is the health of the State. It automatically sets in motion throughout society those irresistible forces for uniformity, for passionate cooperation with the Government in coercing into obedience the minority groups and individuals which lack the larger herd sense ...
But in general, the nation in wartime attains a uniformity of feeling, a hierarchy of values culminating at the undisputed apex of the State ideal, which could not possibly be produced through any other agency than war. Loyalty – or mystic devotion to the State – becomes the major imagined human value ...
In a nation at war, every citizen identifies himself with the whole, and feels immensely strengthened in that identification. The purpose and desire of the collective community live in each person who throws himself wholeheartedly into the cause of war ...
It cannot be too firmly realized that war is a function of States and not of nations, indeed that it is the chief function of States ...
War is the health of the State. Only when the State is at war does the modern society function with that unity of sentiment, simple uncritical patriotic devotion, cooperation of services, which have always been the ideal of the State lover. Randolph Bourne, The State, 1918
A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Bridge – Radar – got a spook. The Enemy Below 1957 starring Robert Mitchum & Curt Jurgens & Theodore Bikel & Al Hedison & Russell Collins & Kurt Kreuger & Ralph Manza & Frank Albertson & Biff Elliot & Doug McClure et al, director Dick Powell, radar bloke
I’m sick of this war. It’s not a good war. ibid. captain of U-boat
There’s no end to misery and destruction. ibid. Mitchum
I want something better for them than war, and I think it’s possible. ibid. doctor to captain
I don’t want to know the men I’m trying to destroy. ibid. captain to doctor
The only way to win the war is to be just as nasty as the enemy. The Guns of Navarone 1961 starring Gregory Peck & David Niven & Anthony Quinn & Stanley Baker & Anthony Quayle & James Darren & Peter Grant & Irene Papas & Gia Scala & James Robertson Justice & Richard Harris & Bryan Forbes et al, director J Lee Thompson, Peck
They’ll be a thousand wars. And they’ll be a thousand wars till we all kill each other off completely. ibid. Niven
Thomas: That’s war.
Bass: What’s war?
Thomas: Trading real estate for me. Sands of Iwo Jima 1949 starring John Wayne & John Agar & Adele Mara & Forrest Tucker & Wally Cassell & James Brown & Richard Webb & Arthur Franz & Julie Bishop & James Holden & Peter Coe & Richard Jaeckel & Bill Murphy & George Tyne & Martin Milner et al, director Allan Dwan