An adversary is more hurt by desertion than by slaughter. - Vegetius What can a soldier do who charges when out of breath? - Vegetius Few men are born brave, many become so through training and force of discipline. - Vegetius Valour is superior to numbers. - Vegetius An ambuscade, if discovered and promptly surrounded, will repay the intended mischief with interest - Vegetius A general is not easily overcome who can form a true judgement of his own and the enemy's forces. - Vegetius Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum Let him who desires peace prepare for war - Vegetius We die today not only for our friends and family but for our gods and for our forefathers and men before them so pray to them to make us victorious - Vegetius Let all be present and expect the palm, the prize of victory. - Virgil So ends the bloody business of the day. - Homer Even the bravest cannot fight beyond his strength. - Homer Men grow tired of sleep, love, singing and dancing sooner than war. - Homer He serves me most, who serves his country best. - Homer The blade itself incites to violence - Homer To those that flee comes neither power nor glory - Homer Ye gods, what dastards would our host command? Swept to the war, the lumber of the land. - Homer Noble and manly music invigorates the spirit, strengthens the wavering man, and incites him to great and worthy deeds. - Homer A glorious death is his who for his country falls. - Homer Conquered, we conquer - Plautus Ah, yes, mere infantry poor beggars... - Plautus The valiant profit more their country than the finest, cleverest speakers - Plautus Quick decisions are unsafe decisions. - Sophocles It is the brave man's part to live with glory, or with glory die. - Sophocles The outcome corresponds less to expectations in war than in any other case whatsoever. - Livy Vae victus. Woe to the vanquished. - Livy To a good general luck is important. - Livy All warfare is based on deception. - Sun Tzu In war, numbers alone confer no advantage. Do not advance relying on sheer military power. - Sun Tzu Generally management of the many is the same as generally management of the few, it's a matter of organization. - Sun Tzu He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious. - Sun Tzu In peace, sons bury their fathers, in war, fathers bury their sons. - Herodotus Far better is to have a stout heart always and suffer one's share of evils, than to be ever fearing what may happen. - Herodotus After the war is over, make alliances - Greek proverb Fortis cadere, cedere non potest. A brave man may fall, but he cannot yield. - Latin proverb Victory loves prudence. - Latin proverb Flet victus, victor interiit. The conquered mourns, the conqueror is undone. - Latin proverb Timidi mater non flet. A coward's mother does not weep. - Latin proverb Arms keep peace - Latin proverb To blunder twice is not allowed in war - Latin proverb The proper arts of a general are judgement and prudence. - Tacitus Great empires are not maintained by timidity. - Tacitus A bad peace is even worse than a war - Tacitus Even the bravest men are frightened by sudden terrors - Tacitus The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise. - Tacitus Valour is the contempt of death and pain. - Tacitus They make a solitude and call it peace. - Tacitus Every care must be taken that our auxiliaries, being stronger than our citizens, may not grow too much for them and become savage beasts. - Plato Only the dead have seen the end of the war. - Plato The rulers of the State are the only ones who should have the privilege of lying - Plato I think the slain care little if they sleep or rise again. - Aeschylus A people's voice is dangerous when charged with wrath. - Aeschylus In war we must always leave room for strokes of fortune, and accidents that cannot be foreseen. - Polybius A good general not only sees the way to victory, he also knows when victory is impossible. - Polybius Bella detesta matribus. Wars are the dread of mothers. - Horace Quae caret ora cruore nostro? What coast knows not our blood? - Horace Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. It is a sweet and seemly thing to die for one's country. - Horace Adversity reveals the genius of a general; good fortune conceals it - Horace A wise man in times of peace prepares for war. - Horace A collision at sea can ruin your entire day. - Thucydides The strong did what they could, and the weak suffered what they must. - Thucydides Self-control is the chief element in self respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage. - Thucydides The true contempt of an invader is shown by deeds of valour in the field. - Hermocrates of Syracuse They have an abundance of gold and silver, and these make war, like other things, go smoothly. - Hermocrates of Syracuse When there is mutual fear, men think twice before they make aggression upon one another. - Hermocrates Nobody is driven in to war by ignorance, and no one who thinks he will gain anything from it is deterred by fear. - Hermocrates Even the bravest cannot fight beyond his strength. - Euripides The god of war hates those who hesitate. - Euripides Danger gleams like sunshine to a brave man's eyes. - Euripides A large army is always disorderly. - Euripides Fas est et ab hoste doceri. It is right to learn, even from the enemy. - Ovid The gods favour the bold. - Ovid Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home. - Cicero The sinews of war are infinite money. - Cicero War is not so much a matter of weapons, as of money. - Cicero Silent enim leges inter arma Laws are silent in times of war - Cicero War, as the saying goes, is full of false alarms. - Aristotle We make war that we may live in peace. - Aristotle The wise man speaks because he has something to say, the fool because he has to say something - Aristotle It is a bad plan that cannot be altered. - Publilius Syrus Pardon one offence and you encourage the commission of many - Publilius Syrus We should provide in peace what we need in war - Publilius Syrus The cruelty of war makes for peace. - Publilius Syrus Necessity knows no law except to conquer. - Publilius Syrus He is best secure from dangers who is on his guard even when he seems safe. - Publilius Syrus In war important events result from trivial causes. - Gaius Julius Caesar War gives the right of the conquerors to impose any conditions they please upon the vanquished. - Gaius Julius Caesar Veni, vidi, vici. I came, I saw, I conquered. - Gaius Julius Caesar Alea iacta est The die is cast - Gaius Julius Caesar If you must break the law, do it to seize power, in all other cases observe it. - Gaius Julius Caesar Men of Athens, there is not much time for exhortation, but to the brave a few words are as good as many. - Hippocrates War is the only proper school of the surgeon. - Hippocrates If a man does not know to what port he is sailing, no wind is favourable. - Seneca The fortunes of war are always doubtful - Seneca Constant exposure to dangers will breed contempt for them. - Seneca Against danger it pays to be prepared. - Aesop Brave men are a city's strongest tower of defence. - Alcaeus A dead enemy always smells good. - Aulus Vitellius Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war. - Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, III, 1 He conquers who endures. - Persius Extraordinary rains pretty generally fall after great battles. - Plutarch I am more afraid of our own mistakes than of our enemies' designs. - Pericles When one side goes against the enemy with the gods' gift of stronger morale, then their adversaries, as a rule, cannot withstand them. - Xenophon Bella, horida bella! Wars, horrid wars! - Virgil Willing obedience always beats forced obedience - Xenophon Soldiers do not like being under the command of one who is not of noble birth. - Onosander To an imperial city nothing is inconsistent which is expedient. - Euphemus of Athens In the moment of action remember the value of silence and order. - Phormio of Athens If a man does not strike first, he will be first struck. - Athenogoras of Syracuse Fortes fortuna adiuvat. Fortune favours the brave. - Terence In war we must be speedy. - Silius Italicus Learn to obey before you command. - Solon of Athens Varus, give me back my legions. - Augustus Caesar: After the defeat and annihilation of Varus' column in Teutoberg Forest The Spartans do not ask how many enemies but where they are. - Agis II of Sparta Come home with this shield, or upon it. - A Spartan mother equips her son Who was the first that forged the deadly blade? Of rugged steel his savage soul was made. - Tibullus A small country cannot contend with a great; the few cannot contend with the many; and the weak cannot contend with the strong - Mencius A disorderly mob is no more an army than a heap of building materials is a house - Socrates To brave men, the prizes that war offers are liberty and fame - Lycurgus of Sparta War spares not the brave but the cowardly - Anacreon It is the noblest and safest thing for a great army to be visibly animated by one spirit - Archidamus of Sparta Ah! The generals! They are numerous but not good for much! - Aristophanes Let them hate us as long as they fear us - Caligula To lead untrained people to war is to throw them away - Confucius Only the brave enjoy noble and glorious deaths - Dionysius The walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots - Ezekiel, XXVI, 10 Alta sedent civilis vulnera dextrae Deep are the wounds that civil strife inflicts - Lucan It is pleasant, when the sea is high and the winds are dashing the waves about, to watch from the shores the struggles of another - Lucretius Hannibal knew how to gain a victory, but not how to use it - Maharbal The man who runs away will fight again - Menander An alliance with the powerful is never to be trusted - Phaedrus War is sweet to those who have never experienced it - Pindar How are the mighty fallen in the midst of battle! - II Samuel, I, 25 March divided and fight concentrated - Military maxim Divide and conquer - Military maxim Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear -Marcus Aurelius