War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.

If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War.

To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.

When I first went to places where people were suffering from war and persecution, I felt ashamed of my feelings of sadness. I could see more possibilities in my life.

War should only be declared by the authority of the people, whose toils and treasures are to support its burdens, instead of the government which is to reap its fruits.

In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield.

Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.

Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.

In war there is no prize for runner-up.

What is absurd and monstrous about war is that men who have no personal quarrel should be trained to murder one another in cold blood.

There’s no doubt that usually a president’s public image is enhanced by going to war. That never did appeal to me.

Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac.

The basic fact about human existence is not that it is a tragedy, but that it is a bore. It is not so much a war as an endless standing in line.

You get a reputation for stability if you are stable for years.

The U.S. military is not war weary. Our military draws strength from confronting our enemies when clear policy objectives are set and we are fully resourced for the fight.

Peace is not the absence of war, but a virtue based on strength of character.

When the rich wage war, it’s the poor who die.

Gains achieved at great cost against our enemy in Afghanistan are reversible.

The world knows that America will never start a war. This generation of Americans has had enough of war and hate… we want to build a world of peace where the weak are secure and the strong are just.

Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation through very slight forces.

Throughout my career, I learned plenty about war on the battlefield, but I learned even more about the importance of finding peace. And that is what the State Department and U.S.A.I.D. do: prevent the wars that we can avoid so that we fight only the ones we must.

The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it.

Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain.

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

It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.

People do not make wars; governments do.

I have seen enough of one war never to wish to see another.

I used to bodyguard for Muhammad Ali, Leon Spinks, Sugar Ray Leonard. I used to bodyguard a lot of diamond merchants; I would travel with a suitcase full of diamonds and take them from point A to point B. My reputation grew because I was a professional. I did my job, and I was courteous – a no-nonsense guy.

There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.

War is war. The only good human being is a dead one.

I know war as few other men now living know it, and nothing to me is more revolting. I have long advocated its complete abolition, as its very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a method of settling international disputes.

Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once it slips, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable.

The United States never lost a war or won a conference.

War settles nothing.

The invasion of Iraq, particularly, gave a big shot in the arm to the jihadi extremists.

Could I have but a line a century hence crediting a contribution to the advance of peace, I would yield every honor which has been accorded by war.

America means far more than a continent bounded by two oceans. It is more than pride of military power, glory in war, or in victory. It means more than vast expanse of farms, of great factories or mines, magnificent cities, or millions of automobiles and radios.

Man becomes his most creative during war.

We have practiced diplomacy since the very beginning of the nation. Sometimes it has not worked, and we’ve had to go to war. I always believe you should try to find peace and reconciliation before conflict. That has been the approach I’ve taken.

I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.

As I’ve said, there were patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it. And all of us are united in appreciation for our servicemen and women, and our hopes for Iraqis‘ future.

My great-grandfather and his two brothers fought at Gettysburg. They were in artillery, and they survived the war, thank goodness. So I revere what they did. I think their motivations were honorable when they undertook the war and participated in it along with other Southerners.

We all hoped in 2001 that we could put in place an Afghan government under President Karzai that would be able to control the country, make sure al-Qaeda didn’t come back, and make sure the Taliban wasn’t resurging. It didn’t work out.

But does that mean that war and violence are inevitable? I would argue not because we have also evolved this amazingly sophisticated intellect, and we are capable of controlling our innate behavior a lot of the time.

I was so upset with what was going on in the world. I just couldn’t stand the idea of being people tortured and that we even had such a thing as war. I hated the older generation, who had not done anything about it. Punk was a call-to-arms for me.

You will kill 10 of our men, and we will kill 1 of yours, and in the end it will be you who tire of it.

I think that both parties should declare the debt limit as a political weapon of mass destruction which can’t be used. I mean, it is silly to have a country that has 237 years building up its reputation and then have people threaten to tear it down because they’re not getting some other matter.

Love is like war: easy to begin but very hard to stop.

We shall never be able to remove suspicion and fear as potential causes of war until communication is permitted to flow, free and open, across international boundaries.

There is no glory in battle worth the blood it costs.

You can’t say civilization don’t advance… in every war they kill you in a new way.

If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.

History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.

The most shocking fact about war is that its victims and its instruments are individual human beings, and that these individual beings are condemned by the monstrous conventions of politics to murder or be murdered in quarrels not their own.

Something’s very wrong with a nation that would rather spend money on war than take care of its children.

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

I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war.

The connection between dress and war is not far to seek; your finest clothes are those you wear as soldiers.

In war the heroes always outnumber the soldiers ten to one.

When we are sick, we want an uncommon doctor; when we have a construction job to do, we want an uncommon engineer, and when we are at war, we want an uncommon general. It is only when we get into politics that we are satisfied with the common man.

If there is not the war, you don’t get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don’t get a great statesman; if Lincoln had lived in a time of peace, no one would have known his name.