Inspiring Words from World War II: A Collection of Quotes

"This was their Finest Hour."

- Winston Churchill

"I am a child of the House of Commons. I was brought up in my father’s house to believe in democracy."

- Winston Churchill

"We are still masters of our fate. We still are captain of our souls."

- Winston Churchill

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

- Winston Churchill

"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense."

- Winston Churchill

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

- Winston Churchill

"We shall never surrender!"

- Winston Churchill

"But I should be failing in my duty if, on the other wise, I were not to convey the true impression, that a great nation is getting into its war stride."

- Winston Churchill

"Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar."

- Winston Churchill

"For without victory there is no survival."

- Winston Churchill

"This is a war of the Unknown Warriors; but let all strive without failing in faith or in duty, and the dark curse of Hitler will be lifted from our age."

- Winston Churchill

"Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."

- Winston Churchill

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."

- General George S. Patton Jr.

"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

- Winston Churchill

"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'"

- Winston Churchill

"We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle, nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the job."

- Winston Churchill

"Freedom to learn is the first necessity of guaranteeing that man himself shall be self-reliant enough to be free. … If the fires of freedom and civil liberties burn low in other lands they must be made brighter in our own. If in other lands the press and books and literature of all kinds are censored, we must redouble our efforts here to keep them free. If in other lands the eternal truths of the past are threatened by intolerance we must provide a safe place for their perpetuation."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"During World War II, law-abiding Japanese-American citizens were herded into remote internment camps, losing their jobs, businesses and social standing, while an all-Japanese-American division fought heroically in Europe."

- Tom Brokaw

"They fought together as brothers-in-arms. They died together and now they sleep side by side. To them we have a solemn obligation."

- Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

"Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices."

- Harry S. Truman

"You are about to embark upon the great crusade toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you… I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle."

- General Dwight D. Eisenhower

"The guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won. The skies no longer rain death – the seas bear only commerce – men everywhere walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world is quietly at peace."

- General Douglas MacArthur

"They had no right to win. Yet they did, and in doing so they changed the course of a war…even against the greatest of odds, there is something in the human spirit – a magic blend of skill, faith and valor – that can lift men from certain defeat to incredible victory."

- Walter Lord

"A date which will live in infamy… no matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion the American people in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory."

- President Franklin D. Roosevelt

"The heroism of our own troops…was matched by that of the armed forces of the nations that fought by our side… they absorbed the blows… and they shared to the full in the ultimate destruction of the enemy."

- President Harry S. Truman

"You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory!"

- Winston Churchill

"Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory."

- General George S. Patton

"I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

- Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week."

- George Patton

"Never in history has the navy landed an army at the planned time and place. But if you land us anywhere within 50 miles of Fedela and within 1 week of D-Day. I’ll go ahead and win."

- Major General George Patton

"Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it."

- General George S. Patton

"We shall provide against and thus prevail over the dangers and problems of the future, withhold no sacrifice, grudge no toil, seek no sordid gain, fear no foe. All will be well."

- Winston Churchill

"This is a long tough road we have to travel. The men that can do things are going to be sought out just as surely as the sun rises in the morning. Fake reputations, habits of glib and clever speech, and glittering surface performance are going to be discovered."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"They have given their sons to the military services. They have stoked the furnaces and hurried the factory wheels. They have made the planes and welded the tanks, riveted the ships and rolled the shells."

- President Franklin D. Roosevelt

"We know that enduring peace cannot be bought at the cost of other people's freedom."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"We are determined that before the sun sets on this terrible struggle our flag will be recognized throughout the world as a symbol of freedom on the one hand and of overwhelming force on the other."

- General George C. Marshall

"Some chicken….Some neck!"

- Winston Churchill

"We have not journeyed across the centuries, across the oceans, across the mountains, across the prairies, because we are made of sugar candy."

- Winston Churchill

"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity."

- General Dwight D. Eisenhower

"If we lose the war in the air, we lose the war altogether… and we lose it quickly."

- Bernard L. Montgomery

"We must be the great arsenal of Democracy."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"He who defends everything, defends nothing."

- Erwin Rommel

"Pearl Harbor caused our Nation to wholeheartedly commit to winning World War II, changing the course of our Nation's history and the world's future."

- Joe Baca

"We can have a new vision, one even greater than the system they gave us after World War II. Everyone can pursue happiness and freedom and peace."

- Condoleezza Rice

"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn’t thinking."

- George Patton

"We have known the bitterness of defeat and the exultation of triumph, and from both we have learned there can be no turning back. We must go forward to preserve in peace what we won in war."

- Douglas MacArthur

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."

- General George S. Patton

"We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us."

- Winston Churchill

"It is with gratitude in the past, and with confidence in the future, that we range ourselves without fear beside Britain, where she goes, we go! Where she stands, we stand!"

- NZ PM Michael Joseph Savage

"I think the reaction to a World War II situation would be the same today as it was in 1942. Initially, people would question, but once patriotism got stirred up, the whole thing would gather momentum and we'd all pull together."

- Parker Stevenson

"As a nation, we may take pride in the fact that we are softhearted; but we cannot afford to be soft-headed."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"The empires of the future are the empires of the mind."

- Winston Churchill

"If we come to a minefield, our infantry must attack exactly as if it were not there."

- Georgy Zhukov

"The Green New Deal we are proposing will be similar in scale to the mobilization efforts seen in World War II or the Marshall Plan."

- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."

- Winston Churchill

"I fight for my corner."

- Winston Churchill

"I can testify to what UNICEF means to children because I was among those who received food and medical relief right after World War II."

- Audrey Hepburn

"They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind!"

- Arthur “Bomber” Harris

"In World War II, jazz absolutely was the music of freedom, and then in the Cold War, behind the Iron Curtain, same thing."

- Herbie Hancock

"The greatest crime since World War II has been U.S. foreign policy."

- Ramsey Clark

"I think if we call in the experts we can draw up the full scheme, with the rallying points arranged."

- Pietro Badoglio

"Not one step back!"

- Joseph Stalin

"My Luftwaffe is invincible…And so now we turn to England. How long will this one last - two, three weeks?"

- Hermann Goring

"I’d drink it."

"Your name is unknown. Your deed is immortal."

"Loose lips [might] sink ships."