Battle Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old battle quotes, battle sayings, and battle proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

Where there is no peril in the fight, there is no glory in the triumph. Pierre Corneille
Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning. Erwin Rommel
In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins. Ulysses S. Grant
In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. Dwight D. Eisenhower
You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. Margaret Thatcher
Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime. Ernest Hemingway
War does not determine who is right - only who is left. Bertrand Russell
War can only be abolished through war, and in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun. Mao Zedong
It is good that war is so horrible, or we might grow to like it. Robert E. Lee
Battle not with monsters lest you become one. Friedrich Nietzsche
War is a quarrel between two thieves too cowardly to fight their own battle. Thomas Carlyle
You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war. Napoleon Bonaparte
Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won. Arthur Wellesley
Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows. Martin Luther King, Jr.
War is the greatest plague that can afflict humanity, it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families. Any scourge is preferable to it. Martin Luther
Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war. Donald Trump
A battle won is a battle which we will not acknowledge to be lost. Ferdinand Foch
The real trouble with war (modern war) is that it gives no one a chance to kill the right people. Ezra Pound
It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it. Douglas Macarthur
All wars are follies, very expensive and very mischievous ones. Benjamin Franklin
War is not an adventure. It is a disease. It is like typhus. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
For a war to be just three conditions are necessary - public authority, just cause, right motive. Ernest Hemingway
Wars spring from unseen and generally insignificant causes, the first outbreak being often but an explosion of anger. Thucydides
War is what happens when language fails. Margaret Atwood
You don't always win your battles, but it's good to know you fought. John Greenleaf Whittier
No battle plan survives contact with the enemy. Colin Powell
War is a defeat for humanity. Pope John Paul II
There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others. Niccolo Machiavelli
If we don't end war, war will end us. H. G. Wells
Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war. Ernest Hemingway
No one ever goes into battle thinking God is on the other side. Terry Goodkind
Wars have never hurt anybody except the people who die. Salvador Dali
War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace. Thomas Mann
The hotter the battle the sweeter the victory. Bob Marley
A lost battle is a battle one thinks one has lost. Jean-Paul Sartre
No battle is worth fighting except the last one. Enoch Powell
Anyone that goes to battle goes to battle knowing the mindset and tactics of their enemies. Brad Thor
War is so unjust and ugly that all who wage it must try to stifle the voice of conscience within themselves. Leo Tolstoy
Preparation for war is a constant stimulus to suspicion and ill will. James Monroe
War means blind obedience, unthinking stupidity, brutish callousness, wanton destruction, and irresponsible murder. Alexander Berkman
The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it. George Orwell
We make war that we may live in peace. Aristotle
No war is inevitable until it breaks out. A. J. P. Taylor
Everyone prepares for battle in his own way. Janet Morris
To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace. George Washington
War is cruelty, and none can make it gentle. Gilbert Parker
War is fear cloaked in courage. William Westmoreland
War is the science of destruction. John Abbott
In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes. Julius Caesar
War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed. William McKinley
No battle was ever won according to plan, but no battle was ever won without one. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don't ever apologize for anything. Harry S. Truman
Only great and general battles can produce great results Carl von Clausewitz
All battles are fought by scared men who'd rather be some place else. John Wayne
The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God, never first in the external world. Oswald Chambers
A battle sometimes decides everything and sometimes the most trifling thing decides the fate of a battle. Napoleon Bonaparte
The hardest battle you're ever going to fight is the battle to be just you. Leo Buscaglia
Battles are sometimes won by generals. Wars are nearly always won by sergeants and privates. F. E. Adcock
The legal battle against segregation is won, but the community battle goes on. Dorothy Day
Battles are lost in the same spirit in which they are won. Walt Whitman
The purpose of battle is to attain the greatest heights within your own limits. Yukito Kishiro
There are more battles won through prayer than by any other means. Chuck Smith
It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. Buddha
Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. George S. Patton
Battle scars from the war of good versus evil have a unique beauty all their own. P. C. Cast
Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter. Winston Churchill
No battle was ever won by wholly sane men. Lynn Viehl
Believe that you can whip the enemy, and you have won half the battle. James Ewell Brown Stuart
The battle between good and evil is endlessly fascinating because we are participants every day. Stephen King
Pick your battles, and accept yourself for who you are. Chrissie Wellington
The manner in which one loses the battle can sometimes outshine the victory. David Millar
In a battle between force and an idea, the latter always prevails. Ludwig Von Mises
Do battle with the challenges of your present, and you will unlock the prizes of your future. Andy Andrews