Thucydides Quotes

The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable.

There was nothing there but black water and American fire power.

War is the usual condition of Europe. A thirty years' supply of causes of war is always on hand.

Politics and war are remarkably similar situations.

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

I have lived too long to cherish many illusions about the essential high-mindedness of men when brought into stark confrontation with the issue of control over their security, and their property interests.

We are all tourists in history, and irony is what we win in wars.

It is idle to say that nations can struggle to outdo each other in building armaments and never use them. History demonstrates the contrary, and we have but to go back to the last war to see the appalling effect of nations competing in great armaments.

Clashes of values and the struggle for primacy constitute a constant in human history that accounts for that other constant - conflict and war.

During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man.

I was very interested in the relationship between the man who speaks and the woman who listens. I was drawn to the idea that the relationship between a man and a woman can be something like a war itself, very cruel and violent.

For the victor peace means the preservation of the position of power which he has secured. For the vanquished it means resigning himself to the position left to him.

When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand.

The world is ruled by violence, or at least the imminent threat of violence. It always has been.

Now, I believe that war is never inevitable until it starts, but there has been a great proclivity in human history, and including in recent history, for war.

The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood.

Sometimes I think war is God's way of teaching us geography.

As people get more desperate, history suggests that they're not going to rise in a mighty proletarian tidal wave and wash away their oppressors. They're gonna turn on each other.

My argument is that War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor reading.

Let us first render ourselves popular by mighty deeds, and afterwards we will speak of peace and clemency. In the disputes of others let us always put ourselves on the side of the stronger. If we would become rich in men and cattle, we cannot help making enemies; but they will not roar for ever.

Throughout history, the chief arbiter of the influence of nations and cultures has been war.

The struggle between Liberty and Authority is the most conspicuous feature in the portions of history with which we are earliest familiar.

The tyrant is always stirring up some war or another, in order that the people may require a leader.

In order to function, the United States needs an enemy.

The terror created by weaponry has never stopped men from employing them.