The First Casualty Quotes & Sayings

Hospitals strip a lot from you - your independence, your confidence, sometimes your will to live. But pettiness too. Pettiness is the first casualty of the ICU waiting room. No one has the energy for it. — Dennis Lehane

In any war, the first casualty is common sense, and the second is free and open discussion. — James Reston

In a war, the first casualty is human dignity. — Paulo Coelho

As Americans gained a new belief in their manifest destiny around the globe, Hawaiians lost their country, the first sovereign nation to become a casualty of America's imperial outreach. — Julia Flynn Siler

It was war, and in war the truth was almost always the first casualty. — Vince Flynn

The first casualty of a civil war was justice, Philip had realized. — Ken Follett

Memory is the first casualty of middle age, if I remember correctly. — Candice Bergen

Truth ... is the first casualty of tyranny. — Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

When war is declared, truth is the first casualty — Arthur Ponsonby

The image of the scientist who puts the pursuit of truth before anything else has been shattered and replaced by a man on the make or a quasi-religious enthusiast who wants to prove his case at any cost. Science is becoming the tool of campaigning warfare, in which truth is the first casualty. — Paul Johnson

If the first casualty of war is innocence, then perhaps with each bullet fired, bomb detonated, leader overthrown, wall built, economy destroyed and family member killed, we are not creating goodwill and harmony, but rather another child who believes violence is the only means to bring about change in the world. — Michael Franti

Aeschylus said, 'In war, truth is the first casualty.' now we can add politics." Captain Hank Bracker — Hank Bracker

Rumor runs through the community like a plague, and truth is the first casualty. — Greg Iles

Well, politics is war, and in war, truth is the first casualty. — Jeff Greenfield

The first casualty (of this crisis) had been the United Nations. It would need an immense effort, an almost superhuman effort, to restore the prestige of that organization — Alec Douglas-Home

When love dies and a marriage lies in ruins, the first casualty is honest memory, decent, impartial recall of the past. Too inconvenient, too damning of the present. It's the spectre of old happiness at the feast of failure and desolation. — Ian McEwan

The first casualty of the conflict must be our own sentimentality — Max Brooks

There is no such thing as a natural disaster. In earthquakes the architecture fails. If you're out in a grassy meadow, it doesn't matter how big the earthquake is: it might knock you down, but if nothing falls on top of you and nothing catches fire from broken gas mains or power lines, then you're probably okay. Architecture is the first casualty of earthquakes, and human beings under the architecture are the casualties of the architecture. Even with a wholly natural disaster, whatever that might be - a tsunami, maybe - who gets help, who has resources to rebuild, who is treated as a threat or a malingerer - those are not natural but social phenomena. — Rebecca Solnit

If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war. Pentagon official, on why US military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War In time of war the first casualty is truth. — Boake Carter

Love is always the first casualty of a religious war, the second is Truth and the third...Humanity. — Jason Versey

Sincerity is the first casualty of capitalism. We — John Burdett

Clarity of language is the first casualty of authoritarianism. — Robin Morgan

In war the first casualty is the truth. — Aeschylus

The first casualty of any battle is the plan of attack. — Cory Doctorow

Peace is the first casualty in every ambition. — Sweety Shinde

In war, truth is the first casualty. — Aeschylus

The first casualty of war is casual wear. — Brian Spellman

It gets harder as times go by, because memory is the first casualty of manic depression. When I'm manic, all I remember is the moment. When I'm depressed, all I remember is the pain. The surrounding details are lost to me. — Terry Cheney

The first casualty of war is innocence. — Oliver Stone

Party and ideology routinely trump institutional interests and responsibilities. Regular order - the set of rules, norms and traditions designed to ensure a fair and transparent process - was the first casualty. The results: No serious deliberation. No meaningful oversight of the executive. A culture of corruption. — Thomas E. Mann

Truth is the first casualty of war. — Sophie Masson

When power is up for grabs," Pitt said, "the first casualty is often liberty. — Clive Cussler

The first casualty when war comes is truth. — Hiram Johnson

It is well known that in war, the first casualty is truth - that during any war truth is forsaken for propaganda. — Harry Browne

Like everything else in his life, he crashed forward, caution the first casualty. — Neal Shusterman

It is often observed that the first casualty of war is truth, but how do you tell the truth without betraying the sacrifice of those who accepted the terms of battle? War is a sacrificial system that creates its own justification. — Stanley Hauerwas

When love dies and marriage lies in ruins, the first casualty is honest memory, decent, impartial recall of the past. Too inconvenient, too damning of the present. It's the spectre of old happiness at the feast of failure and desolation. So, against that headwind of forgetfulness I want to place my little candle of truth and see how far it throws its light. — Ian McEwan

As in any war, the truth is the first casualty. I — John Grisham

Truth is always the first war casualty. The emotional disturbances and distortions in historical writing are greatest in wartime. — Harry Elmer Barnes

They keep telling us that in war truth is the first casualty, which is nonsense since it implies that in times of peace truth stays out of the sick bay or the graveyard. — Alexander Cockburn

Truth, it has been said, is the first casualty of war. — Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden

It's often been observed that the first casualty of war is the truth. But that's a lie, too, in its way. The reality is that, for most wars to begin, the truth has to have been sacrificed a long time in advance. — L. Neil Smith

When times are tough, vision is the first casualty. Before conditions can improve, it is the first thing we must recover. — Michael Hyatt

There are no memories which I wanted to blot out of my mind. Always, I have been rather objective in my point of view, able to stand off and observe myself and my surroundings in a rather impersonal fashion. The actual sight of my first casualty was not nearly as bad as I had imagined. — James Carl Nelson

In war, the first casualty is truth. — Aeschylus

Truth has anciently been called the first casualty of war. Money may, in fact, have priority. — John Kenneth Galbraith

In war, truth is often the first casualty. — Winston Churchill

Truth is always the first casualty of war. — Aeschylus

Freedom is often the first casualty of war. — Gabriel Garcia Marquez

To say that the first casualty of war is truth is to miss the rather more important point that a principal weapon of war is lies. — Harry M. Collins

So one important lesson of Vietnam is, the first casualty of an unwise and unjust war are the American troops called on to fight it. Their service should be honored. — Paul Begala

The first casualty of hitting rock bottom is vanity. — Richard Paul Evans

The first casualty in every war is truth. — Muriel Lester

Most executives I know are so action-oriented, or action-addicted, that time for reflection is the first casualty of their success. — Margaret Heffernan