“He … got the better of himself, and that's the best kind of victory one can wish for.”
Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright
Source: Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605–1615), Part II (1615), Book IV, Ch. 72.
“It was a kind of Cadmean victory.”
Book 1, Ch. 166, refering to a victory where both sides suffer extreme losses. Derived from the legends of Thebes, where the sons of Oedipus, and hence descendants of Cadmus, fought to the death.
The Histories
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John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America
1963, Third State of the Union Address
Vera Brittain book Testament of Youth
Source: Testament of Youth (1933), Chapter 12 [quoting a 1924 letter]
Golda Meir (1898–1978) former prime minister of Israel
As quoted in As Good as Golda : The Warmth and Wisdom of Israel's Prime Minister (1970) edited by Israel Shenker and Mary Shenker, p. 28
Context: We owe a responsibility not only to those who are in Israel but also to those generations that are no more, to those millions who have died within our lifetime, to Jews all over the world, and to generations of Jews to come. We hate war. We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown, and when strawberries bloom in Israel.
Winston S. Churchill book The Second World War
Speech in the House of Commons, after taking office as Prime Minister (13 May 1940) This has often been misquoted in the form: "I have nothing to offer but blood, sweat and tears ..."
The Official Report, House of Commons (5th Series), 13 May 1940, vol. 360, c. 1502. Audio records of the speech do spare out the "It is" before the in the beginning of the "Victory"-Part.
The Second World War (1939–1945)
Context: You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
Context: I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this Government: 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.' We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
“If you believe in victory, then victory will believe in you.”
Paulo Coelho book The Winner Stands Alone
Source: The Winner Stands Alone
“To be defeated and not submit, is victory; to be victorious and rest on one's laurels, is defeat.”
Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935) Polish politician and Prime Minister
(Late 1920s or the 1930s) Zbigniew Brzezinski in his introduction to Wacław Jędrzejewicz’s Piłsudski: A Life For Poland. Quoted from this website http://members.lycos.co.uk/jozefpilsudski/index2.html <br class="br">Attributed
José de San Martín (1778–1850) Argentine general and independence leader
Si hay victoria en vencer al enemigo, la hay más cuando el hombre se vence a si mismo.
100 Masones Su Palabra (2010)
“Victory is within our ready grasp…We are in reach of a famous victory”
Tony Abbott (1957) Australian politician
"Abbott's 'famous victory' remark … was it gospel or not?" http://www.theage.com.au/national/abbotts-famous-victory-remark--was-it-gospel-or-not-20100623-ywq0.html in The Age, June 23, 2010. <br class="br">2010