{"author":"Smedley Butler","author_id":"Smedley+Butler","total_quotes":6,"quotes":[{"text":"War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.","author":"Smedley Butler","tags":["best","believe","small "],"id":889,"author_id":"Smedley+Butler"},{"text":"I served in all commissioned ranks from a second Lieutenant to a Major General. And during that time, I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street, and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism.","author":"Smedley Butler","tags":["time","man","short "],"id":54690,"author_id":"Smedley+Butler"},{"text":"War is a racket. It always has been... A few profit - and the many pay. But there is a way to stop it. You can't end it by disarmament conferences. You can't eliminate it by peace parleys at Geneva. Well-meaning but impractical groups can't wipe it out by resolutions. It can be smashed effectively only by taking the profit out of war.","author":"Smedley Butler","tags":["peace","end","you "],"id":146216,"author_id":"Smedley+Butler"},{"text":"War is a racket. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.","author":"Smedley Butler","tags":["losses","which","racket "],"id":250678,"author_id":"Smedley+Butler"},{"text":"For a great many years, as a soldier, I had a suspicion that war was a racket; not until I retired to civil life did I fully realize it.","author":"Smedley Butler","tags":["life","great","soldier "],"id":410442,"author_id":"Smedley+Butler"},{"text":"There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights.","author":"Smedley Butler","tags":["fight","rights "],"id":444586,"author_id":"Smedley+Butler"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":6,"pages":1}}