Quotes about War

Captain Renault: Carl, see that Major Strasser gets a good table, one close to the ladies.
Carl: I have already given him the best, knowing he is German and would take it anyway.

- S.Z. Sakall (as Carl) in Casablanca (1942)

[about Rick]
Major Strasser: You give him credit for too much cleverness. My impression was that he's just another blundering American.
Captain Renault: We musn't underestimate "American blundering". I was with them when they "blundered" into Berlin in 1918.

- Claude Rains (as Captain Louis Renault) in Casablanca (1942)

Prince Feisal: Which is why my father made this war upon the Turks. My father, Mr Lawrence, not the English. But my father is old and I... I long for the vanished gardens of Cordoba. However, before the gardens must come the fighting.

- Alec Guinness (as Prince Feisal) in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

T.E. Lawrence: A thousand Arabs means a thousand knives, delivered anywhere day or night. It means a thousand camels. That means a thousand packs of high explosives and a thousand crack rifles. We can cross Arabia while Johnny Turk is still turning round, and smash his railways. And while he's mending them, I'll smash them somewhere else. In thirteen weeks, I can have Arabia in chaos.

- Peter O'Toole (as T.E. Lawrence) in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

General Allenby: You acted without orders, you know.
T.E. Lawrence: Shouldn't officers use their initiative at all times?
General Allenby: Not really. It's awfully dangerous.

- Jack Hawkins (as General Allenby) in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Jackson Bentley: [on his interest in Lawrence and the Arab Revolt] I'm looking for a hero.
Prince Feisal: Indeed, you do not seem a romantic man.
Jackson Bentley: Oh, no! But certain influential men back home believe the time has come for America to lend her weight to the patriotic struggle against Germany... and Turkey. Now, I've been sent to find material that makes this war seem more...
Prince Feisal: Enjoyable?
Jackson Bentley: Oh, hardly THAT, sir. But to show it in its more... adventurous aspects.
Prince Feisal: You are looking for a figure that will draw your country towards war?
Jackson Bentley: All right, yes.
Prince Feisal: Lawrence is your man.

- Alec Guinness (as Prince Feisal) in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

[Lawrence and Ali watch as British cannons fire in the distance]
Sherif Ali: God help the men that lie under that.
T.E. Lawrence: They are Turks.
Sherif Ali: God help them.

- Omar Sharif (as Sherif Ali) in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

T.E. Lawrence: I'm to "assess the situation".
Colonel Brighton: Hmph! Well that won't be too difficult. The situation's bloody awful.

- Anthony Quayle (as Colonel Brighton) in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Vicar: This is the People's War. It is our war. We are the fighters. Fight it then. Fight it with all that is in us and may God defend the Right.

- Henry Wilcoxon (as Vicar) in Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Vicar: We, in this quiet corner of England, have suffered the loss of friends very dear to us - some close to this church: George West, choir boy; James Bellard, station master and bell ringer and a proud winner, only one hour before his death, of the Belding Cup for his beautiful Miniver rose; and our hearts go out in sympathy to the two families who share the cruel loss of a young girl who was married at this altar only two weeks ago. The homes of many of us have been destroyed, and the lives of young and old have been taken. There is scarcely a household that hasn't been struck to the heart. And why? Surely you must have asked yourself this question. Why in all conscience should these be the ones to suffer? Children, old people, a young girl at the height of her loveliness. Why these? Are these our soldiers? Are these our fighters? Why should they be sacrificed? I shall tell you why. Because this is not only a war of soldiers in uniform. It is a war of the people, of all the people, and it must be fought not only on the battlefield, but in the cities and in the villages, in the factories and on the farms, in the home, and in the heart of every man, woman, and child who loves freedom! Well, we have buried our dead, but we shall not forget them. Instead they will inspire us with an unbreakable determination to free ourselves and those who come after us from the tyranny and terror that threaten to strike us down. This is the people's war! It is our war! We are the fighters! Fight it then! Fight it with all that is in us, and may God defend the right.

- Henry Wilcoxon (as Vicar) in Mrs. Miniver (1942)