I write in the novel's afterword that our recent wars "finish not with victory or defeat but with a calendar draw-down date and a presumption that we shall never be reconciled with the enemy".
A society whose moral ideas, inhibit their own defense will always suffer defeat by the very predators they deem immoral. In any conflict the boundaries of behavior are defined by the party that cares the least about morality.
If Satan can defeat you in your thoughts then he can defeat you anywhere else as well.
Anyone can deal with victory. Only the mighty can bear defeat.
The power of good is shown not by triumphantly conquering evil, but by continuing to resist evil while facing certain defeat.
Defeat furnishes good material to the poets and the artists, but none of us care to have the glory of the conquered apply to us.
An unattended mind is the breeding ground of self-defeat.
The early morning belongs to the Church of the risen Christ. At the break of light it remembers the morning on which death and sin lay prostrate in defeat and new life and salvation were given to mankind
[Bill] Clinton was able to defeat conservatives, Republicans, at every turn. And so he was given wide latitude, leeway. He could do whatever he wanted and not be condemned for it. But young people today are not prone to rewarding that kind of behavior.
We cannot shun our values as an immigrant nation. This is a wrong path. And while possibly it is a short-term political victory based on division and based on creating a wedge issue that splits people in this country, it is a long-term defeat for this Nation.
How do you defeat terrorism? Don’t be terrorized.
You know, we did a good job in containing the Soviet Union, but we made a lot of mistakes. We supported really nasty guys, we did some things that we are not particularly proud of, from Latin America to Southeast Asia. But we did have a kind of overarching framework about what we were trying to do that did lead to the defeat of the Soviet Union and the collapse of Communism. That was our objective. We achieved it.
[Napoleon deployed] every available resource to inflict all-out defeats on [his] enemies.
A coalition of groups is waging a massive propaganda campaign against the president of the United States. an all-out attack. Their aim is total victory for themselves and total defeat for him.
To bear defeat with dignity, to accept criticism with poise, to receive honors with humility - these are marks of maturity and graciousness.
Defeat ends when we launch into another battle. Failure has no end: it is a lifetime choice.
We all know them — the unstructured person whose every action seems aimless and the totally organized person whose every action defeats some purpose.
One of the secrets of success is to refuse to let temporary setbacks defeat us.
The most effective way to defeat patriarchy is to defy and disown its self-legitimating narrative.
Accepting that the odds are against you is the same as accepting defeat before you begin.