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I have loved war too well
- Louis XIV, last words, 1715
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Soldiers, the only hope of the King for an honourable peace rests with your bayonets. We shall give no quarter and ask for none
- Marshal de Villers, address to the French Army before the Battle of Malplaquet, 1709
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Ultima ratio regum
The final argument of Kings
- Motto inscribed on French cannon by order of Louis XIV, c. 1660
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When a man has committed no mistakes in war, he can only have been engaged in it but for a short time
- Marshal Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Viscomte de Turenne, after the Battle of Marienthal, 1645
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We should try to make war without leaving anything to chance. In this lies the talent of a general
- Marshal Maurice de Saxe, Mes Réveries (1757)
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The soldiers…should make it an article of faith never to abandon their standard
- Marshal Maurice de Saxe, Mes Réveries (1757)
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Firearms and not cold steel now decide battles
- Marshal de Puységur, Art de la Guerre (1748)
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