Sayings about Soldiers

The soup makes the soldier. ~ French Proverb

Easy to enroll a thousand soldiers. But, ah, one general!. ~ Chinese Proverb

When ten thousand soldiers lie rotting, the general’s reputation is enhanced. ~ Japanese Proverb

Generals conquer, soldiers are killed. ~ Japanese Proverb

If the Sultan demands five eggs, let his soldiers roast a thousand chickens. ~ Iranian Proverbs

Old soldiers never die, they simply fade away. ~ Traditional Proverb

If one soldier knew what the other thinks, there would be no war. ~ Yiddish Proverb

It is the blood of the soldier that makes the general great. ~ Italian Proverbs

It is easy to get a thousand soldiers, but difficult to get one general. ~ Chinese Proverb

The soldiers’ blood, the general’s reputation. ~ Jamaican Proverbs

The soldier’s wife is always a widow. ~ Indian Proverbs

A good soldier has only three things to think about; the king, God, and nothing. ~ German Proverb

Under a powerful general there are no feeble soldiers. ~ Japanese Proverbs

Locks cannot be made from good iron; soldiers are not made out of good people. ~ Chinese Proverb

If there is a strong general, there will be no weak soldiers. ~ Chinese Proverb

Young soldiers, old beggars. ~ German Proverbs

The soldiers fight, and the kings are heroes. ~ Yiddish Proverbs

The best soldiers are not warlike. ~ Chinese Proverb

Quotations about Soldiers

An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot. ~ Thomas Paine

Ten soldiers wisely led will beat a hundred without a head. ~ Euripides

One can be a soldier without dying and a lover without sighing. ~ Edwin Arnold

Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war. ~ Otto Von Bismark

If my soldiers were to begin to think, not one of them would remain in the army. ~ Frederick the Great

Neither soldiers nor money can defend a king but only friends won by good deeds, merit, and honesty. ~ Sallust

I don’t think any war is worth having our soldiers killed. ~ Jessica Lynch

I am a general. My soldiers are the keys and I have to command them. ~ Vladimir Horowitz

Diplomats are just as essential to starting a war as soldiers are for finishing it… You take diplomacy out of war, and the thing would fall flat in a week. ~ Will Rogers

Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death. ~ Sun Tzu

God has given such brave soldiers to this Crown that, if they do not frighten our neighbours, at least they prevent us from being frightened by them. ~ Elizabeth I

Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea. ~ Samuel Johnson

History is an account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools. ~ Ambrose Bierce

Discipline is simply the art of making the soldiers fear their officers more than the enemy. ~ Claude Adrien Helvetius

The courage of a soldier is found to be the cheapest and most common quality of human nature. ~ Edward Gibbon

Science is the captain, and practice the soldiers. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

The patriot volunteer, fighting for country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth. ~ Thomas J. Jackson

The soldiers that didn’t come back were the heroes. It’s a roll of the dice. If a bullet has your name on it, you’re a hero. If you hear a bullet go by, you’re a survivor. ~ Bob Feller

The Lord gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction. ~ Charles Spurgeon

War is too serious a matter to leave to soldiers. ~ William Tecumseh Sherman

A preacher must be both soldier and shepherd. He must nourish, defend, and teach; he must have teeth in his mouth, and be able to bite and fight. ~ Martin Luther

Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every Free State. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Every man who expresses an honest thought is a soldier in the army of intellectual liberty. ~ Robert Green Ingersoll

Soldiers, when committed to a task, can’t compromise. It’s unrelenting devotion to the standards of duty and courage, absolute loyalty to others, not letting the task go until it’s been done. ~ John Keegan

In war the heroes always outnumber the soldiers ten to one. ~ John Gay

When goods do not cross borders, soldiers will. ~ Frederic Bastiat

Although a soldier by profession, I have never felt any sort of fondness for war, and I have never advocated it, except as a means of peace. ~ Ulysses S. Grant

Music played at weddings always reminds me of the music played for soldiers before they go into battle. ~ Heinrich Heine

A good soldier, like a good horse, cannot be of a bad color.~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

There’s soldiers out there every day that are doing heroic things… We don’t need to create them. ~ Jessica Lynch

The connection between dress and war is not far to seek; your finest clothes are those you wear as soldiers. ~ Virginia Woolf

China has no income tax, no unemployment and not a single soldier outside its borders. ~ En Lai Chou

The more a general is accustomed to place heavy demands on his soldiers, the more he can depend on their response. ~ Carl von Clausewitz

As an old soldier I admit the cowardice : it’s as universal as sea sickness, and matters just as little. ~ George Bernard Shaw

I could have become a soldier if I had waited; I knew more about retreating than the man who invented retreating. ~ Mark Twain

Children play soldier. That makes sense. But why do soldiers play children? ~ Karl Kraus

Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war. ~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca

I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them. ~ Clara Barton

A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon. ~ Napoleon

When soldiers have been baptized in the fire of a battle-field, they have all one rank in my eyes. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

He who does garrison duty is as much soldier as he that is in the fighting line. ~ Seneca

Here’s how I think of my money – as soldiers – I send them out to war every day. I want them to take prisoners and come home, so there’s more of them. ~ Kevin O’Leary

Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen volunteer to protect and defend this country and all its citizens, and do so with honor, integrity and excellence. Our nation continually asks them to do more and more, with less and less. ~ Allen West

In war, there are no unwounded soldiers. ~ José Narosky

Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

The most vital quality a soldier can possess is self-confidence. ~ George S. Patton

Do you know what a soldier is, young man? He’s the chap who makes it possible for civilized folk to despise war. ~ Allan Massie

Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin they think of firelit homes, clean beds, and wives. ~ Siegfried Sassoon

Firefighters are indispensable foot soldiers here at home. ~ Christopher Dodd

I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight. ~ General George S. Patton

Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war. ~ Otto Von Bismarck

Old soldiers never die; they just fade away. ~ Douglas MacArthur

Great men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war. ~ Seneca

I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. ~ Siegfried Sassoon

Perfect soldier, perfect gentleman never gave offence to anyone not even the enemy. ~ A. J. P. Taylor