W

"This soldiering thing sadly deadens that very good thing, humanity." 
-Lewis Wallace, Civil War general, author of Ben Hur

Without the threat of death there's no reason to live at all
- Brian Warner

The pen may be stronger than the sword... but I'd rather have a sword in a dark alley
- Andrew Warnick

"The American forces have suffered terrible losses. The losses are far more than what Eisenhower has admitted, and worse is ahead. Tunis is only a foretaste of what is waiting for us in Europe."
- Roane Waring, Commander of the American Legion (after the victory at North Africa)

"It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world"
- President George Washington, Farewell address September 1796

"When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen."
   - George Washington

"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." 
-George Washington, speech (first annual address to Congress, 1790. (also see Vegetius))

"Fortunate is the general staff which sees a war fought the way it intends." 
- Richard M. Watt, military historian

"If there is one thing you can count on in war it is that there is nothing you can count on in war." 
-Richard M. Watt, military historian

"A bold general may be lucky, but no general can be lucky unless he is bold."
   - Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell

"The decisive means for politics is violence." 
-Max Weber, pioneer sociologist

"Up, Guards and at'em!"
Duke of Wellington, 1815.
To the brigade of guards at Waterloo

"The hardest thing of all for a soldier is to retreat."
- Wellington

"Hard pounding, gentlemen. Let's see who pounds the longest."
   - Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington

"I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy,
but, by God, they terrify me."
   - Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington ("Dispatch, Aug 1810")

"When I reflect upon the characters and attainments of some of the general officers of this army...on whom I am to rely...I tremble: and as Lord Chesterfield said of the generals of his day, ’I only hope that when the enemy reads the list of their names he trembles as I do.’" 
-Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, military dispatch, 1810

Before a war military science seems a real science, like astronomy; but after a war it seems more like astrology. 
- Rebecca West

The military don't start wars. Politicians start wars
- William Westmoreland

Peace is not God's gift to his creatures. It is our gift to each other.
-Elie Wiesel

Always forgive your enemies--nothing annoys them so much.
- Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900

As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have it's fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular.
-Oscar Wilde

A man can't be too careful in the choice of his enemies. 
- Oscar Wilde

You will come home before the leaves have fallen from the trees
- Kaiser Wilhelm: address to departing German troops, August 1914.

"Alliances, to be sure, is good. But forces of one’s own are better"
- Frederick William of Brandenburg ("The Great Elector"). 
The Elector of Brandenburg 1640-88

“There is one certain means by which I can be sure to never see my country’s ruin; I will die in the last ditch!”
- William III (William of Orange), King of England 1650-1702

"Retreat, hell! We just got here."
- Captain Lloyd Williams
When a French officer suggested that the Marines should join the retreat,
at Belleau Wood 30. may 1918.

Only the winners decide what were war crimes. 
- Gary Wills

"Bravery does not of itself win battles." 
-H.H. Wilson, British naval historian

"In combat civilians serve only one purpose, that purpose being visual cover for the enemy."
- John Wolfe, Saudi Arabia 1991

"There is no such thing as a hopeless cause, Only insufficiently motivated soldiers."
- Colonel Stephen Wollett, Saudi Arabia 1991

"The major force in world history is sheer dumbness."
- Eric Wolf

If you insist upon fighting to protect me, or ''our'' country, let it be understood soberly and rationally between us that you are fighting to gratify a sex instinct which I cannot share; to procure benefits which I have not shared and probably will not share.
-Virginia Woolf