Zhang Zhidong Quotes

Judge candidly what a wretched figure the American empire will exhibit in the eye of other nations, without a power to array and support a military force for its own protection.

A government without the power of defense! It is a solecism.

Russia has been too weak, and the weak get beaten.

Without power, without a strong army and a strong navy, there can be no welfare for us .... The German nation will be either the hammer or the anvil.

The survival of this country depends upon letting the world know we have the power and the ability to use it if the occasion demands.

Now the situation is perilous, and the Powers are glaring at us like tigers eyeing their prey, all trying to barge into our country. Considering the financial and military situation in China today, we will of course try and avoid a war … But if our powerful enemies try and force us to yield to demands to which we cannot possibly consent, then we shall have no other alternative but to rely on the justice of our cause and to unite and fight.

Peace is purchased from strength. It's not purchased from weakness or unilateral retreats.

My politics are of a practical kind - the integrity of the country, the supremacy of the Federal government, an honorable peace, or none at all.

That is the best Government, which best provides for war.

The lesson of the Cuban Missile Crisis is plain: Strength prevents war; weakness invites it. We need a commander-in-chief who understands that - and who won't leave us facing a foe who thinks he doesn't.

Unless your government is respectable, foreigners will invade your rights; and to maintain tranquillity, it must be respectable - even to observe neutrality, you must have a strong government.

The United States is going to defend itself under any circumstances.

What a country calls its vital... interests are not things that help its people live, but things that help it make war.

A self-respecting nation is ready for anything, including war, except for a renunciation of its option to make war.

Weak countries always exaggerate their power.

As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable.

Let the natural process of war among nations smother the weak.

In vain do they worship peace at home, who cannot defend themselves against foreigners.

The time has come to recognize that the U.S. will continue to exercise unprecedented power in a world where international rules are still unreliable and where security and advancing of the free democratic order still depend significantly on the possession and use of military might.

There is a rank due to the United States among nations, which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure the peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war.

We still give the nation state the monopoly on the legal use of violence in our own defense.

We must never allow America to become the second strongest nation I the world.

It is a principle incorporated into the settled policy of America, that as peace is better than war, war is better than tribute..

India has never played politics with national security.

Israel is an independent country with a large army, and it has the ability to do what it thinks is right.