Quotes About War

The last day of the war provided chilling closure. The ending, in its ferocity, bloodiness, and uselessness, contained the entire war in microcosm. The fighting went on for the hollowest of reasons: no one knew how to stop it.

the human nature whose strong quality it brings out and reveals. To attribute any nobility to war itself is as much a confusion of thought as to attribute nobility to cancer or leprosy, because of the skill, devotion and self-sacrifice of those who give up their lives to its cure.

One last unexploded mine remains, its exact location unknown and its hidden potency serving as something of a symbol of the Great War's underlying power to influence events down to the present day.

the western front on armistice morning, the commanders of seven judged the war essentially over upon receiving word of the signing and stopped; but the commanders of nine divisions decided that the war must go on until the last minute, with predictable results to the lives entrusted to them.

the Germans had built redoubts both sturdy and comfortable, homes away from home. Behind the lines, German soldiers cultivated gardens of fresh vegetables and kept dairy cows. Some had started second families, fathering children with Frenchwomen.

France is fighting for 'La Patrie'; England is fighting for commerce; Italy is fighting to get a slice of Austria, and America is fighting for souvenirs.

constant companions throughout the project: Stanley Weintraub's A Stillness Heard Round the World, A. J. P. Taylor's The First World War, John Keegan's The First World War, and Malcolm Brown's The Western Front.

Waving his arm over the carnage, the German remarked that the American attack that morning had been a "foolish affair." He himself had known for weeks that the war was coming to an end and had taken no unnecessary risks with the lives of his men.

Turkey, fearing attack by Russia, took Germany's side and declared war against the czar by bombarding the port of Odessa.

Where were you born? On a battlefield, [Yossarian] answered. No, no. In what state were you born? In a state of innocence.

What would they do to me, he asked in confidential tones, if I refused to fly them? We'd probably shoot you, ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen replied. We? Yossarian cried in surprise. What do you mean, we? Since when are you on their side? If you're going to be shot, whose side do you expect me to be on? ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen retorted

History did not demand Yossarian's premature demise, justice could be satisfied without it, progress did not hinge upon it, victory did not depend on it. That men would die was a matter of necessity; WHICH men would die, though, was a matter of circumstance, and Yossarian was willing to be the victim of anything but circumstance. But that was war. Just about all he could find in its favor was that it paid well and liberated children from the pernicious influence of their parents.

For war there is always enough. It's peace that's expensive.

They're not going to send a crazy man out to be killed, are they?" "Who else will go?

After he made up his mind to spend the rest of the war in the hospital, Yossarian wrote letters to everyone he knew saying that he was in the hospital but never mentioning why. One day he had a better idea. To everyone he knew he wrote that he was going on a very dangerous mission. They asked for volunteers. It's very dangerous, but someone has to do it. I'll write you the instant I get back. And he had not written anyone since.

Dear Mrs., Mr., Miss, or Mr. and Mrs. Daneeka: Words cannot express the deep personal grief I experienced when your husband, son, father, or brother was killed, wounded, or reported missing in action.

All over the world, boys on every side of bomb line were laying down their lives for what they had been told was their country, and no one seemed to mind, least of all the boys who were laying down their young lives.

Oh, I´m not complaining. I know there´s a war on. I know a lot of people are going to have to suffer for us to win it. But why must I be one of them?¨

But that was war. Just about all he could find in its favor was that it paid well and liberated children from the pernicious influence of their parents.

You've been unable to adjust to the idea of war.' 'Yes, sir.' 'You have a morbid aversion to dying.

Help him! Help who? Help the bombardier! I'm a bombardier. Help him, help him! Help who?

The Germans will be beaten in a few months. And Japan will be beaten a few months after that. If I were to give up my life now, it wouldn't be for my country. It would be for Cathcart and Korn. So I'm turning my bombsight in for the duration. From now on I'm thinking only of me.

The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him.

To pray for their safety was to pray for the death of other young men he did not even know.