80 Thought-Provoking Battle Quotes

Life is full of obstacles and strife. There are literal battles being fought with tanks and guns that we only hear from the news. And then there are the battles that we fight everyday at work, at home, and with other people. Each day is a battle to be able to go home and sleep safe in our beds for yet another day.

If you need inspiring quotes about battle, check out these quotes that we specially curated for you.

Thought-Provoking Battle Quotes

The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights. – Muhammad Ali

I’ve always believed that you should never, ever give up and you should always keep fighting even when there’s only a slightest chance. – Michael Schumacher

Everyone prepares for batte in his own way. – Janet Morris

To be nobody-but-yourself – in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else – means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. – E. E. Cummings

george mcgovern quote

I’m fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in. – George McGovern

Fights begin and end with handshakes. – Cameron Conaway

Real champions fight through adversity. – Conor McGregor

Life. For some it is battle, for some it is dance, for rich it is party, for poor it is chance! – Nino Varsimashvili

george r r martin quote

Every man should lose a battle in his youth, so he does not lose a war when he is old. – George R.R. Martin

More often than not, a hero’s most epic battle is the one you never see; it’s the battle that goes on within him or herself. – Kevin Smith

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell. – Buddha

Failure of your first attempt does not mean you can’t be a winner of great battles. – Israelmore Ayivor

napoleon quote

If you build an army of 100 lions and their leader is a dog, in any fight, the lions will die like a dog. But if you build an army of 100 dogs and their leader is a lion, all dogs will fight as a lion. – Napoleon

Fight for your dreams, and your dreams will fight for you. – Paulo Coelho

Everyone has their own ways of expression. I believe we all have a lot to say, but finding ways to say it is more than half the battle. – Criss Jami

To win any battle, you must fight as if you are already dead. – Miyamoto Musashi

Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved. – Martin Luther

The most critical time in any battle is not when I’m fatigued, it’s when I no longer care. – Craig D. Lounsbrough

margaret thatcher quote

You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. – Margaret Thatcher

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. – Sun Tzu

We may stumble and fall but rise again; it should be enough if we did not run away from the battle. – Mahatma Gandhi

A battle won is a battle which we will not acknowledge to be lost. – Ferdinand Foch

Carry the battle to them. Don’t let them bring it to you. – Harry S. Truman

It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it. – Douglas MacArthur

sun tzu quote

Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting. – Sun Tzu

Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win. – Jonathan Kozol

As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed. – Vincent Van Gogh

You don’t win battles with hate, Anger and hate can make you brave, make you strong, but also make you stupid. You end up tripping over your own two feet. – Michael J. Sullivan

Face adversity head on in your training and you will conquer it smoothly in your fight. – Conor McGregor

A lost battle is a battle one thinks one has lost. – Jean-Paul Sartre

mike tyson quote

Everybody you fight is not your enemy and everybody who helps you is not your friend. – Mike Tyson

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war. – Napoleon Bonaparte

We are rebels for a cause, poets with a dream, and we won’t let this world die without a fight. – Albert Camus

First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win. – Mahatma Gandhi

Some Warriors look fierce, but are mild. Some seem timid, but are vicious. Look beyond appearances; position yourself for the advantage. – Deng Ming-Dao

leo buscaglia quote

The hardest battle you’re ever going to fight is the battle to be just you. – Leo Buscaglia

You will never be entirely comfortable. This is the truth behind the champion – he is always fighting something. To do otherwise is to settle. – Julien Smith

Everyone has a plan until they’ve been hit. – Joe Lewis

There are no pleasures in a fight but some of my fights have been a pleasure to win. – Muhammad Ali

The reason why many fail in battle is because they wait until the hour of battle. The reason why others succeed is because they have gained their victory on their knees long before the battle came. Anticipate your battles; fight them on your knees before temptation comes, and you will always have victory. – R. A. Torrey

anchee min quote

If you can’t go back to your mother’s womb, you’d better learn to be a good fighter. – Anchee Min

Learn to value yourself, which means: fight for your happiness. – Ayn Rand

Don’t just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table. – Barack Obama

Choose your battles wisely. Fight only the most, most, most important ones, let the rest go. – C. Joybell C.

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. – Patrick Henry

kobe bryant quote

If you see me in a fight with a bear, pray for the bear. – Kobe Bryant

If we don’t fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don’t really stand for them. – Paul Wellstone

Always fight for quality, whether giving or receiving. – Walt Disney

The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself – the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us – that’s where it’s at. – Jesse Owens

The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of the world but those who fight and win battles that others do not know anything about. – Jonathan Harnisch

john steinbeck quote

If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck. – John Steinbeck

Instead of fighting the darkness, you bring in the light. – Eckhart Tolle

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle. – Plato

I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious. – Vince Lombardi

Never stop. Never stop fighting. Never stop dreaming. – Tom Hiddleston

Know thy self, know thy enemy quote

Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories. – Sun Tzu

Some of the greates battles will be fought within the silent chambers of your own soul. – Ezra Taft Benson

He who fights, can lose. He who doesn’t fight, has already lost. – Bertolt Brecht

You don’t always win your battles, but it’s good to know you fought. – Lauren Bacall

Martial arts is not about fighting; it’s about building character. – Bo Bennett

thomas carlyle quote

War is a quarrel between two thieves too cowardly to fight their own battle. – Thomas Carlyle

You win battles by knowing the enemy’s timing, and using a timing which the enemy does not expect. – Miyamoto Musashi

It is easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up to them. – Alfred Adler

It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle. – Norman Schwarzkopf

The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God, never first in the external world. – Oswald Chambers

napoleon hill quote

Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting. – Napoleon Hill

No battle was ever won according to plan, but no battle was ever won without one. – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. – Sun Tzu

Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists. – Eckhart Tolle

Nobody can hurt me without my permission. – Mahatma Gandhi

robin williams quote

If we’re going to fight a disease, let’s fight one of the most terrible diseases of all, indifference. – Robin Williams

Anyone who fights for the future, lives in it today. – Ayn Rand

Don’t fight a battle if you don’t gain anything by winning. – Erwin Rommel

There comes a time when you have to drop your burdens in order to fight for yourself and your dreams. – Les Brown

There will come a time in your life when you lose something that matters to you. You’ll fight for it and you won’t win. But what really matters isn’t the war you’re waging, it’s that you don’t lose the person you are in the midst of the battle. – J. Sterling

wendy mass quote

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. – Wendy Mass

If you’re going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight there is. – Charles Bukowski

There’s a storm inside of us, a burning river, a drive. You push yourself further than anyone could think possible. You are never out of the fight. – Marcus Luttrell

It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up. – Vince Lombardi

Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die. – Herbert Hoover