George C. Marshall War Quotations

The only way human beings can win a war is to prevent it.

Wars are bred by poverty and oppression. Continued peace is possible only in a relatively free and prosperous world.

Military power wins battles, but spiritual power wins wars.

The gallantry and aggressive fighting spirit of the Russian soldiers command the American army's admiration.

A similar statement appears in the US Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report (European War) (30 September 1945): The great lesson to be learned in the battered towns of England and the ruined cities of Germany is that the best way to win a war is to prevent it from occurring.

No compromise is possible and the victory of the democracies can only be complete with the utter defeat of the war machines of Germany and Japan.

The United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace.

There has been considerable comment over the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a soldier. I am afraid this does not seem as remarkable to me as it quite evidently appears to others. I know a great deal of the horrors and tragedies of war. ... The cost of war in human lives is constantly spread before me, written neatly in many ledgers whose columns are gravestones. I am deeply moved to find some means or method of avoiding another calamity of war.

The time has come when we must proceed with the business of carrying the war to the enemy, not permitting the greater portion of our armed forces and our valuable material to be immobilized within the continental United States.

The instruments of war can be manufactured ... human blood cannot be; and the lack of just one pint could mean the life of an American serviceman.

The patient is sinking while the doctors deliberate.