Ludwig von Mises Quotes

The world is ruled by violence, or at least the imminent threat of violence. It always has been.

Between the people and their enemies there can be nothing in common but the sword; we must govern by iron those who cannot be governed by justice; we must oppress the tyrant...

We know that dictators are quick to choose aggression, while free nations strive to resolve differences in peace.

Force is not a remedy.

What right have the rulers of nations to unsheath the sword of destruction, and to let loose the demons of desolation upon mankind, whenever caprice or pride, ambition or avarice, shall prescribe?

War is always an option. Peace is not.

What was taken by force, can only be restored by force.

All war represents a failure of diplomacy.

War can only be abolished through war, and in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun.

War is the ultimate tool of politics.

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

A peace that depends on fear is nothing but a suppressed war.

War is the continuation of politics by other means.

When it comes to tyrants, dictators and terrorists, strength and the threat of force is the only language they understand.

Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.

Reason has never failed men. Only force and repression have made the wrecks in the world.

Peace with a cudgel in hand is war.

We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years … and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in, and otherwise we have returned home … to live our own lives in peace. But there comes a time when soft power or talking with evil will not work where, unfortunately, hard power is the only thing that works.

War is an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will.

A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he cannot sit on it.

The end of war is to procure by force the justice which cannot otherwise be obtained.

I am too realistic to believe in pacifism. But, nevertheless, the use of force should always be the last resort.

The South does not understand anything but the language of the gun.

The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions ... but by iron and blood.

The art of power often involves brutality — and other offenses too.