Armies

Famous quotes containing the word armies:

    In the weakness of one kind of authority, and in the fluctuation of all, the officers of an army will remain for some time mutinous and full of faction, until some popular general, who understands the art of conciliating the soldiery, and who possesses the true spirit of command, shall draw the eyes of all men upon himself. Armies will obey him on his personal account. There is no other way of securing military obedience in this state of things.
    Edmund Burke (1729–1797)

    Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves, engage in child labor, exchange information ceaselessly. They do everything but watch television.
    Lewis Thomas (b. 1913)

    Would not some lightning flash of vision sear people’s consciousness into life again? What was the good of stopping the war if armies continued?
    John Dos Passos (1896–1970)