But war's a game, which, were their subjects wise,
Kings would not play at.
Veterans Day Quotes
Nothing on this page was written for Veterans Day. It is built from four pages, War, Courage, Patriotism and Gratitude, and the mix is not tidy. The war page contains plenty of writers who hated it, and the patriotism page contains Bertrand Russell remarking in 1962 that patriots talk of dying for their country and never of killing for it.
That makes the page more honest than a greeting card and less convenient. If you need a line of thanks, the gratitude entries are the safest place to look. If you want something that sounds like a speech, read the notes first, because some of the best-known patriotic lines here are flagged as misattributed.
Most quoted on veterans day:
War, he sung, is toil and trouble;
Honour but an empty bubble.
The armies most successful in war are those in which every combatant has a clear conscience.
For a flying foe
Discreet and provident conquerors build up
A bridge of gold.
Black it stood as night,
Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell,
And shook a dreadful dart.
The children born of thee are sword and fire,
Red ruin, and the breaking up of law.
To be prepared for war is onto the most effectual means of preserving peace.
Where's the coward that would not dare
To fight for such a land?
"Farewell, friend. I was a thousand times more evil than thou!"
By this sword, he that makes the first thrust, I’ll kill him; by this sword, I will.