Victory Costs Quotes

A bloody battle leaves even the victor bloodied. But compromise also has its costs—particularly when it alienates the majority and is taken as a sign of weakness.

Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.

The victors in great wars have always been spiritually defeated by the conquered.

Yesterday, we clinched victory in the Pacific, but we sowed the whirlwind.

America's victory in the Cold War was not without painful social costs.

We don't want wars even when we win.

People talk about the pain of defeat, but I think defeat has a lot of value. I think the wound of victory can be even more damaging than defeat. Very few people really know how to win.

Be careful that victories do not carry the seed of future defeats.

Is there a word for the moment you win tug-of-war? When the weight gives, and all that extra rope comes hurtling towards you, how even though you've won, you still end up with muddy knees and burns on your hands? Is there a word for that? I wish there was.