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World War II51 quotes
Yesterday, December 7, 1941-a date which will live in infamy-the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. — Franklin D. Roosevelt · 1941I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. — Winston Churchill · 1940You probably heard we ain't in the prisoner-takin' business; we in the killin' Nazi business and cousin, business is a-boomin'. — Lt. Aldo Raine · 2009In war: resolution. In defeat: defiance. In victory: magnanimity. In peace: goodwill. — Winston ChurchillNever in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. — Winston Churchill · 1940This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. — Winston Churchill · 1942All 51 quotes →War6 quotes
Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle. — George S. Patton · 1969That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason. — Robert H. Jackson · 1945In bombers named for girls, we burned
The cities we had learned about in school-
Till our lives wore out; our bodies lay among
The people we had killed and never seen.
When we lasted long enough they gave us medals;
When we died they said, "Our casualties were low." — Randall Jarrell · 1948I don't want to get any messages saying that we are holding our position. We're not holding anything. Let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding on to anything except the enemy. We're going to hold on to him by the nose and we're gonna kick him in the ass. We're gonna kick the hell out of him all the time and we're gonna go through him like crap through a goose! — General George S. Patton · 1969Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. Because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. — General George S. Patton · 1969The policy is obliteration, openly acknowledged. This is not a justifiable act of war. — George Bell · 1944American character3 quotes
Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle. — George S. Patton · 1969Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. Because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. — General George S. Patton · 1969Are all American officers so ill-mannered? — Von Luger 'The Kommandant' · 1963French Resistance3 quotes
France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war. — Charles de Gaulle · 1940Since those whose duty it was to hold the sword of France have let it fall, I have picked up its broken point. — Charles de Gaulle · 1940Whatever happens, the flame of the French resistance must not and shall not die. — Charles de Gaulle · 1940Magnanimity in war3 quotes
In war: resolution. In defeat: defiance. In victory: magnanimity. In peace: goodwill. — Winston ChurchillThat four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason. — Robert H. Jackson · 1945Don't let's be beastly to the Germans
When our Victory is ultimately won. — Noel Coward · 1943Nuclear weapons3 quotes
The enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization. Such being the case, how are we to save the millions of our subjects, or to atone ourselves before the hallowed spirits of our imperial ancestors?... It is according to the dictate of time and fate that we have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unavoidable and suffering what is insufferable. — Emperor Hirohito · 1945Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima... The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East. — Harry Truman · 1945The war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage. — Emperor Hirohito · 1945Americans2 quotes
Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle. — George S. Patton · 1969Are all American officers so ill-mannered? — Von Luger 'The Kommandant' · 1963D-Day Invasion2 quotes
They may walk with a little less spring in their step, and their ranks are growing thinner, but let us never forget, when they were young, these men saved the world. — Bill Clinton · 1994People of Western Europe: A landing was made this morning on the coast of France by troops of the Allied Expeditionary Force. This landing is part of the concerted United Nations plan for the liberation of Europe, made in conjuction with our great Russian allies... I call upon all who love freedom to stand with us. Keep your faith staunch-our arms are resolute-together we shall achieve victory. — Dwight D. Eisenhower · 1944Marshall Plan2 quotes
The Marshall Plan will go down in history as one of America's greatest contributions to the peace of the world. — Harry Truman · 1955Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist. — George C. Marshall · 1947Total war2 quotes
The policy is obliteration, openly acknowledged. This is not a justifiable act of war. — George Bell · 1944I would not regard the whole of the remaining cities of Germany as worth the bones of one British Grenadier. — Arthur Harris · 1945Aggression1 quote
I don't want to get any messages saying that we are holding our position. We're not holding anything. Let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding on to anything except the enemy. We're going to hold on to him by the nose and we're gonna kick him in the ass. We're gonna kick the hell out of him all the time and we're gonna go through him like crap through a goose! — General George S. Patton · 1969Appeasement1 quote
For the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. — Neville Chamberlain · 1938Barbarism1 quote
Truly, I am living in a time of darkness. — Bertolt Brecht · 1939British Empire1 quote
Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.' — Winston Churchill · 1940Germany1 quote
The Germans, if this Government is returned, are going to pay every penny; they are going to be squeezed as a lemon is squeezed-until the pips squeak. — Eric Geddes · 1918Individualism1 quote
Now, an army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap. — General George S. Patton · 1969No surrender1 quote
We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. — Winston Churchill · 1940Pearl Harbor1 quote
Yesterday, December 7, 1941-a date which will live in infamy-the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. — Franklin D. Roosevelt · 1941Razing cities1 quote
In bombers named for girls, we burned
The cities we had learned about in school-
Till our lives wore out; our bodies lay among
The people we had killed and never seen.
When we lasted long enough they gave us medals;
When we died they said, "Our casualties were low." — Randall Jarrell · 1948Regret1 quote
Now, there's one thing that you men will be able to say when you get back home and you may thank God for it. Thirty years from now, when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee and he asks you, "What did you do in the great World War II?" you won't have to say, "Well...I shoveled shit in Louisiana." — General George S. Patton · 1969Shame1 quote
It is a terrible shame for me-I came back, still alive, without having won the war. — Shoichi Yokoi · 1997Team1 quote
Now, an army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap. — General George S. Patton · 1969The British people1 quote
We have not journeyed all this way across the centuries, across the oceans, across the mountains, across the prairies, because we are made of sugar candy. — Winston Churchill · 1941The Holocaust1 quote
I herewith commission you to carry out all preparations with regard to... A total solution of the Jewish question in those territories of Europe which are under German influence. — Hermann Goring · 1941The atom bomb1 quote
The war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage. — Emperor Hirohito · 1945The military1 quote
Now, an army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap. — General George S. Patton · 1969Victory1 quote
What is our aim?... Victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror; victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. — Winston Churchill · 1940War crimes1 quote
The policy is obliteration, openly acknowledged. This is not a justifiable act of war. — George Bell · 1944Winning1 quote
Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. Because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. — General George S. Patton · 1969