Benjamin Franklin War Quotations

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees.

When will mankind be convinced and agree to settle their difficulties by arbitration?

All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.

Even peace may be purchased at too high a price.

Words may show a man's wit but actions his meaning.

There is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more easily and frequently fall than that of defrauding the government.

There was never a good war, or a bad peace.

All wars are follies, very expensive and very mischievous ones.

Wars are not paid for in wartime, the bill comes later.

What vast additions to the conveniences and comforts of living might mankind have acquired, if the money spent in wars had been employed in works of public utility; what an extension of agriculture even to the tops of our mountains; what rivers rendered navigable, or joined by canals; what bridges, aqueducts, new roads, and other public works, edifices, and improvements might not have been obtained by spending those millions in doing good, which in the last war have been spent in doing mischief.

All wars are follies, very expensive and very mischievous ones. In my opinion, there never was a good war or a bad peace. When will mankind be convinced and agree to settle their difficulties by arbitration?

[It was] the poverty caused by the bad influence of the English bankers on the Parliament which has caused in the colonies hatred of the English and . . . the Revolutionary War.

I firmly believe this ... that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.

There is no such thing as a good war or a bad peace.

It is the duty of mankind on all suitable occasions to acknowledge their dependence on the Divine Being... Almighty God would mercifully interpose and still the rage of war among the nations... He would take this province under His protection, confound the designs and defeat the attempts of its enemies, and unite our hearts and strengthen our hands in every undertaking that may be for the public good, and for our defense and security in this time of danger.

The expenses required to prevent a war are much lighter than those that will, if not prevented, be absolutely necessary to maintain it.

A little neglect may breed great mischief. ... For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, the horse was lost; for want of a horse, the battle was lost; for want of the battle, the war was lost.

War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.

The way to secure peace is to be prepared for war. They that are on their guard, and appear ready to receive their adversaries, are in much less danger of being attacked, than the supine, secure, and negligent.

A highwayman is as much a robber when he plunders in a gang as when single; and a nation that makes an unjust war is only a great gang.

There is no good war or bad peace

I hope...that mankind will at length, as they call themselves reasonable creatures, have reason and sense enough to settle their differences without cutting throats; for in my opinion there never was a good war, or a bad peace.

Man will ultimately be governed by God or by tyrants.

There seems to be three ways for a nation to acquire wealth: the first is by war...this is robbery; the second by commerce, which is generally cheating; the third by agriculture, the only honest way.

Tis a common observation here that our cause is the cause of all mankind, and that we are fighting for their liberty in defending our own.

You may delay, but time will not.

Courteous Reader, Astrology is one of the most ancient Sciences, held in high esteem of old, by the Wise and the Great. Formerly, no Prince would make War or Peace, nor any General fight in Battle, in short, no important affair was undertaken without first consulting an Astrologer.

The colonies would gladly have borne the little tax on tea and other matters had it not been that England took away from the colonies their money, which created unemployment and dissatisfaction. The inability of the colonists to get power to issue their own money permanently out of the hands of George III was the prime reason for the Revolutionary War.

I have been apt to think that there has never been, nor ever will be, any such thing as a good war, or a bad peace.

It seems to me, that if statesmen had a little more arithmetic, or were accustomed to calculation, wars would be much less frequent.

There never was a good war nor a bad peace.

There never was a good war or a bad peace.