John Irving (1942) American novelist and screenwriter
Interview in Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews (1988)
England, p. 76
Vokes - My Story (1985)
John Irving (1942) American novelist and screenwriter
Interview in Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews (1988)
“I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror.”
Alberto Gonzales (1955) 80th United States Attorney General
in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, December 31, 2008 http://www.time.com/time/quotes/0,26174,1869189,00.html.
“Truth is not the first casualty of war alone: it is the first casualty of populism.”
Theodore Dalrymple (1949) English doctor and writer
It is the inescapable duty of every decent citizen to express no interest in or enthusiasm for football and the World Cup http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000966.php (June 7, 2006). <br class="br">The Social Affairs Unit (2006 - 2008)
Rudy Giuliani (1944–2001) American businessperson and politician, former mayor of New York City
When asked to estimate the number of casualties terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, at a news conference (11 September 2001) http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/11/bn.42.html; this is often misquoted as "More than we can bear."
“It was war, and in war the truth was almost always the first casualty.”
Vince Flynn book Executive Power
Source: Executive Power
“Pushing means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that.”
George S. Patton (1885–1945) United States Army general
Speech to the Third Army (1944)
Context: From time to time there will be some complaints that we are pushing our people too hard. I don't give a good Goddamn about such complaints. I believe in the old and sound rule that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood. The harder we push, the more Germans we will kill. The more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that.
“In war, truth is the first casualty.”
Aeschylus (-525–-456 BC) ancient Athenian playwright
This is often attributed to U.S. Senator Hiram Johnson, but does not appear anywhere in his speeches. Arthur Ponsonby#Falsehood in Wartime (1928) quoted: "When war is declared, Truth is the first casualty", but the first recorded use seems to be by Philip Snowden in his introduction to Truth and the War, by E. D. Morel. London, July 1916: "'Truth,' it has been said, 'is the first casualty of war.'" Samuel Johnson#The Idler (1758–1760) expressed a similar idea: "Among the calamities of war may be justly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity encourages."
Misattributed
Ugo Cavallero (1880–1943) Italian general
Quoted in "From the Ashes of Disgrace" - Page 79 - by Franco Maugeri, Victor Rosen - 1948