“Wars begin when you will, but they do not end when you please.”
Niccolo Machiavelli Florentine Histories
Comincionsi le guerre quando altri vuole, ma non quando altri vuole si finiscono.
Variant translation: Wars are begun at will but not ended at will.
Book III, Chapter 7.
Florentine Histories (1526)
“All war represents a failure of diplomacy.”
Tony Benn (1925–2014) British Labour Party politician
Speech http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1991/feb/28/the-gulf in the House of Commons (28 February 1991) <br class="br">1990s
George F. Kennan (1904–2005) American advisor, diplomat, political scientist and historian
As quoted in "George Kennan Speaks Out About Iraq" at History News Network (26 September 2002) http://hnn.us/articles/997.html
“All diplomacy is a continuation of war by other means.”
Zhou Enlai (1898–1976) 1st Premier of the People's Republic of China
As quoted in Saturday Evening Post (27 March 1954); this is a play upon the famous maxim of Clausewitz: "War is the continuation of politics by other means".
“To North Korea, diplomacy is another form of war.”
Brian Reynolds Myers (1963) American professor of international studies
"Stranger Than Fiction" https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/opinion/stranger-than-fiction.html The New York Times (13 February 2005) <br class="br">2000s
“Take the diplomacy out of war and the thing would fall flat in a week.”
Will Rogers (1879–1935) American humorist and entertainer
As quoted in Wit (2003) by Des MacHale, p. 299
As quoted in ...
“[ When war begins then hell openeth. ]”
George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh-born English poet, orator and Anglican priest
Jacula Prudentum (1651)
“… the Peace Treaties must be scrapped … I stand for no more war and no more secret diplomacy.”
Clement Attlee (1883–1967) Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Extract from his 1922 election address, quoted in T.W. Walding (ed.), Who's Who in the New Parliament:Members and their pledges (Philip Gee, London, 1922), p. 35
1920s
John F. Kerry (1943) politician from the United States
On finalizing the Iran Deal https://medium.com/the-iran-deal/introduction-fcb13560dfb9#.cxqrwquur
