Surprise Attacks Quotes

• Al Qaeda operates by launching surprise attacks on civilian targets with the goal of massive casualties. Our only means for preventing future attacks, which could use WMDs, is by acquiring information that allows for pre-emptive action.

  John Yoo

  Mean, Wmd, Goal

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• Say what you will, but you’re never prepared for the surprise attack.

  Sarah Dessen

  Surprise, Prepared

  Sarah Dessen (2006). “The Truth About Forever”, p.20, Penguin

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• When one would make a surprise attack on the enemy, he should avoid the major roads and seek out the lesser ones. Then attack.

  Takeda Nobushige

  War, Enemy, Surprise

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• This [a surprise attack] is an operation by no means to be despised in war, although it is rare, and less brilliant than a great strategic combination which renders victory certain even before the battle is fought.

  Antoine-Henri Jomini

  War, Mean, Victory

  Antoine-Henri Jomini (2012). “The Art of War”, p.191, Courier Corporation

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• If you are in difficulties with a book, try the element of surprise: attack it at an hour when it isn't expecting it.

  H. G. Wells

  Book, Writing, Trying

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• We, as a nation, cannot wait for the Pearl Harbor of the information age. We must increase our vigilance to tackle this problem before we are hit with a surprise attack.

  Fred Thompson

  Waiting, Age, Pearls

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• There are only five notes in the musical scale, but their variations are so many that they cannot all be heard. There are only five basic colors, but their variations are so many that they cannot all be seen. There are only five basic flavors, but their variations are so many that they cannot all be tasted. There are only two kinds of charge in battle, the unorthodox surprise attack and the orthodox direct attack, but variations of the unorthodox and the orthodox are endless. The unorthodox and the orthodox give rise to each other, like a beginningless circle-who could exhaust them?

  Sun Tzu

  Color, Circles, Two

  Sun Tzu (2005). “The Art of War”, p.98, Shambhala Publications

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• Yesterday, December 7, 1941 a date which will live in infamy the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan... We will gain the inevitable triumph so help us God.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  War, Yesterday, America

  Franklin D. Roosevelt's Address to the Congress Asking That a State of War Be Declared Between the United States and Japan, www.loc.gov. December 8, 1941.

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• There has never been a military operation remotely approaching the scale and the complexity of D-Day. It involved 176,000 troops, more than 12,000 airplanes, almost 10,000 ships, boats, landing craft, frigates, sloops, and other special combat vessels--all involved in a surprise attack on the heavily fortified north coast of France, to secure a beachhead in the heart of enemy-held territory so that the march to Germany and victory could begin. It was daring, risky, confusing, bloody, and ultimately glorious [p.25]

  Tom Brokaw

  Military, Heart, Airplane

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• The success of our surprise attack on Pearl Harbor will prove to be the Waterloo of the war to follow. For this reason the Imperial Navy is massing the cream of its strength in ships and planes to assure success.

  Chuichi Nagumo

  War, Navy, Ships

  "American Caesar". Book by William Manchester, p. 195, 1978.

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• December 7, 1941. A date which will live in infamy.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  War, Air Force, December

  Address to joint session of Congress asking for declaration of war on Japan, 8 Dec. 1941

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• Unlike previous wars, our enemy now is a stateless network of religious extremists. They do not obey the laws of war, they hide among peaceful populations and launch surprise attacks on civilians. They have no armed forces per se, no territory or citizens to defend and no fear of dying during their attacks. Information is our primary weapon against this enemy, and intelligence gathered from captured operatives is perhaps the most effective means of preventing future attacks.

  John Yoo

  Religious, War, Mean

  Source: www.guernicamag.com

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• Pearl Harbor is a two-hour movie squeezed into three hours, about how on December 7, 1941, the Japanese staged a surprise attack on an American love triangle. Its centerpiece is 40 minutes of redundant special effects, surrounded by a love story of stunning banality. The film has been directed without grace, vision, or originality, and although you may walk out quoting lines of dialog, it will not be because you admire them.

  Roger Ebert

  Two, Grace, Vision

  "Pearl Harbor" by Roger Ebert, www.rogerebert.com. May 25, 2001.

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• On December 7, 1941, an event took place that had nothing to do with me or my family and yet which had devastating consequences for all of us - Japan bombed Pearl Harbour in a surprise attack. With that event began one of the shoddiest chapters in the tortuous history of democracy in North America.

  David Suzuki

  Japan, America, Democracy

  David Suzuki (1987). “Metamorphosis: Stages in a Life”, Stoddart Pub

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• I stood on my toes and stole a soft kiss from his lips. "Surprise attack," I said. Sam leaned down and kissed me back, his mouth lingering on mine, teeth grazing my lower lip, making me shiver. "Surprise attack back." "Sneaky," I said, my voice breathier than I intended.

  Maggie Stiefvater

  Kissing, Voice, Teeth

  Maggie Stiefvater (2011). “Shiver Trilogy (Shiver, Linger, Forever)”, p.209, Scholastic Inc.

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