Montesquieu Quotes

The military strength and resources of the State must be reserved for its own defense and protection exclusively …

All the armed prophets have conquered, all the unarmed have perished.

A conquering army on the border will not be stopped by eloquence.

An empire founded by war has to maintain itself by war.

There are no militarist adventuristic groups in USSR as among dominating classes in certain other countries where dangerous talk of "third world war" is being encouraged by foul imperialists. True supporters of peace will find real and faithful ally in USSR. This does not mean that our concern for the maintenance of our Armed Forces will diminish. Our Government and Red Army leaders are doing everything to assure that our Army is second to no other Army as regards newest types of armament.

Our military is meant to fight and win war.

The possession of highly developed armed forces by small nations is disastrous in all its consequences.

When you’ve got enough firepower, you win wars.

Whoever has an army has power and that war decides everything.

All great civilizations, in their early stages, are based on success in war.

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

Weapons are like money; no one knows the meaning of enough.

We won't always have the strongest military.

Our national aims can be realized only by military means. The matter needs no further elaboration or interpretation.

We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years … and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in, and otherwise we have returned home … to live our own lives in peace. But there comes a time when soft power or talking with evil will not work where, unfortunately, hard power is the only thing that works.

While our superpower military is stunningly effective, it is also stunningly expensive.

Let no one expect us to disarm unilaterally. We are not a naive people.

The great questions of the day are not to be decided by speeches and majorities ... but by iron and blood.

Don't mess with me. I've got tanks.

The mission of our military is to fight and win wars.

We have never practiced the policy of competitive armaments.

The army is the only power to preserve the [Soviet] Union.

Without a militia, it is in vain to think that any free government will ever have security or stability.

The guns and the bombs, the rockets and the warships, are all symbols of human failure. They are necessary symbols. They protect what we cherish. But they are witnesses to human folly.

No nation has ever ridden to superpower status except on a tide of war and that includes the United States.