History Quotes / PyrrhicVictory

-->-- ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''

'''Gowron:''' And ending a battle to save an Empire is no defeat.

-> '''Count Dooku:''' Do not become greedy, Emir Tambor. Take what valuables you can and destroy everything else.\\
'''Wat Tambor:''' Everything?\\
'''Count Dooku:''' We can put this defeat to political use. The charred ruins of Ryloth will demonstrate to the galaxy the cost of a Republic victory.
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E21LibertyOnRyloth "Liberty on Ryloth"]]

Dare you claim that this is victory?

->You know, we were baited – baited – into [[TheWarOnTerror an unnecessary war that cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars]]. And, what did it really get us besides [[Film/AmericanSniper an Oscar nomination for Bradley Cooper]]?

->'''Bruce:''' [[CallBack That bandit, in the forest in Burma]]. Did you catch him?\\

->My escape was miraculous; the Emperor must have rewarded my undying faith in those times. However, though I am physically free, my body bears the scars, [[CoveredInScars the many, many scars]]. Every breath takes me to a new plane of agony, every heartbeat sets my jagged nerves writhing with pain. [[Eyescream I cannot see]]. [[TongueTrauma I cannot speak]]. Most horrid of all, [[ShellshockedVeteran I cannot forget]]. Nightmares and waking visions plague me, the drip of my own blood, the cries of anguish haunt me.

-->Once you hear the details of victory, it is hard to distinguish it from a defeat.

->'''Kevyn:''' So we're losing?\\
'''Petey:''' No, we're winning expensively.
-->-- ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary''

->The enemy has cost you dearly. Do you even deserve to call it a victory?
-->-- '''Description Box''' for battles won by a Pyrrhic Victory, ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer''

-> '''Dilbert:''' ''I had a great day at work. For some reason, no one interrupted me so I got a lot done.''\\
'''Garbage Man:''' ''Today is a holiday.''\\
''*Pause*''\\
'''Dilbert:''' ''All my victories are tainted.''
-->-- ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}''

->''If we have eight more victories such as these there shall be nobody left to bring news of them.''
-->-- '''A British politician''' learning of the "victory" at [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution Bunker Hill]] (226 men dead, 828 wounded out of ~3000)

-> '''Random Fireman:''' ''We put out the blaze!''\\
'''Peter Griffin:''' ''At what cost?!''\\
''[[FelonyMisdemeanor (he lost his mustache)]]''
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''

-> ''So tell me who won here tonight''\\
''The price of winning worthless fight''
--> '''Music/SonataArctica''', "Destruction Preventer"

->''"The first rule of prosperity is not to let yourself weaken so much in battle that you can't defend yourself against another threat."''
-->-- [[OldMaster Seba]], ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan''.

->''The entrance fee cost me''\\
''Two dollars, and then''\\
''It cost twenty more''\\
''For those burgers and fries.''\\
''My hospital bill''\\
''Was a hundred and ten.''\\
''But I won – ''\\
''The'' five-dollar ''first prize!''
-->-- '''Creator/ShelSilverstein,''' "Big Eating Contest"

->''Savor your moment of triumph Superman, but remember, victory has its price.''
-->-- '''{{ComicBook/Darkseid}},''' ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' [[spoiler: right before he murders Dan Turpin out of spite]]

->''Sometimes when you win, you lose.''
-->-- '''Chris''', ''Film/WhatDreamsMayCome''

->''"The next worst thing to a battle lost is a battle won." ''
-->-- '''The Duke of Wellington''' a day after Waterloo.

->''But it is entirely possible to win against the enemy, it is possible even to kill the enemy, and still to be defeated by the battle.''
-->-- ''Literature/TheBookOfTheDunCow''

->''UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar was America's second longest, finally ending only in 1978 with the diplomatic agreement mediated by President [[UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter James E. Carter]] under which the guerrilla forces of the Viet Cong and the People's Army of Vietnam (formerly the North Vietnamese Army) agreed to lay down arms in exchange for the right to field their own political candidates. Only the [[UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}} Cuban]] conflict would last longer: at the time of the Vietnam memorial's groundbreaking, the guerrilla war which had begun following the April 1961 [[UsefulNotes/BayOfPigsInvasion Bay of Pigs "intervention"]] is still in progress. \\
[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill The Linebacker operations]] of the early [[TheSeventies seventies]] had broken the formal power of [[DirtyCommies the Communist regime]] then in power in Hanoi, at the cost of several million Vietnamese dead from flooding, disease and starvation following the bombing of the North's dike system. The North Vietnamese had [[{{Determinator}} refused to simply surrender]], however, and they and their Viet Cong allies had waged a fierce guerrilla struggle even after the occupation first of Hanoi and then of the Communists' second capital, Haiphong. At home, [[ForeverWar the seemingly endless conflict]] had grown increasingly unpopular, as American troops continued to fight and die even after "victory" had supposedly been won. \\
President Carter's negotiation of the Vietnam accords had been sharply criticized by, among others, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who said that the peace agreement "granted the Communists what they could not win on the battlefield" and predicted that Vietnamese leftists would now try to subvert the unified government of Vietnam from within. Among the critics was former governor UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan of California, who in 1980 would exploit anger over the pact in his successful run for the White House. \\
The influence of Reagan and his supporters would be revealed in the final design of the memorial, which featured a group of soldiers planting a flag atop a broken wall and bore the names of every American killed in the conflict.''
-->-- '''Today in AlternateHistory''', [[http://www.todayinah.co.uk/index.php?userid=guest@todayinah.co.uk&story=39533-O "Pyhrric Victory"]]

->"...Our homes have been returned to us...but not before they were looted. Ransacked by a megalomaniacal ship with designs to become a ruler, just like its brain-diseased masters.\\
...And even though Hal claims to view this as victory for us...I just can't. I really can't. Innocent people still died from the first invasion of Arkanea, the riots caused over that supposedly incurable disease, the second invasion, all the other invasions on the neighboring kingdoms...our home and many of our friends' homes have been destroyed then rebuilt into something utterly alien...many people will still be homeless or wrecked due to all the economic destruction wrought by the pilfering...\\
...All for what?\\
Because we had metal. Just because we had metal."
-->-- '''Rowan Hunter''', ''Roleplay/WeAreOurAdventuringAvatars''

->Game Grumps: Died\\
Jon still won though\\
because...\\
put that in the books
-->-- WebVideo/GameGrumps, [[VideoGame/MarioTennis Mario Power Tennis]]

->I can't believe you got him! You expert, rootin'-tootin', eagle-eyed, Goth-loving marksman! I love it, you managed to find a way to win, and everybody still loses!
-->--'''SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker to Franchise/{{Batman}}''', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood''

-->--'''Stein after defeating [[BigBad Medusa]]''', ''Manga/SoulEater''

->You've crossed the finish line,\\
Won the race but lost your mind,\\
Was it worth it after all?
-->--'''Lazlo Bane''', "Superman"

->For years and years I wandered the earth\\
Until I died and went to hell\\
But my despair had ascended to heaven\\
That's how I finally got rid of it.
-->--'''Music/TheyMightBeGiants,''' "Hopeless Bleak Despair"

->Sometimes the only victory possible is to keep your opponent from winning.
-->--'''The Emperor of Mankind''', ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''

-> ''I’ve lost a hand, a father, a son, a sister, and a lover, and soon enough I will lose a brother. And yet they keep telling me House Lannister has won this war.''
-->-- '''Jaime Lannister''', ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire: Literature/AStormOfSwords''

-->--''[[Literature/GentlemanBastard The Lies of Locke Lamora]]''

->''His only son,\\
Cut down, but the battle won,\\
Oh, what is it worth,\\
When all that's left is hurt?''
-->--'''Music/FlorenceAndTheMachine''', "Queen of Peace"

->''We "won" in so far as we just beat the [[OurMagesAreDifferent Traditions]] to the hearts and and minds (and [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney wallets]] and [[WrittenByTheVictors schools]]) of the [[{{Muggles}} populace]]. They're still out there, and we're still out there, and both groups are having a hell of a time with [[JustBeforeTheEnd all the shit that's come down on our heads lately]]. "Won" is such a stretch. We "won" the Ascension War much like [[TropeNamer Pyrrhus]] won.''
-->--''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension - Convention Book: Iteration X'' (Revised)

->''I mean, anybody who has beaten this [[NintendoHard incredibly hard]] piece of shit will not have any sense of satisfaction, but rather regrets, because it is a complete waste of fuckin' time. I mean, it's like coming out of a brutal fight, being the winner, but achieving nothing for all your troubles but some bloody bruises and broken bones. It's just not worth it.''
-->-- '''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'', on ''Film/TheKarateKid'' on NES.

->''"You know, we were baited – baited – into [[TheWarOnTerror an unnecessary war that cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars]]. And, what did it really get us besides [[Film/AmericanSniper an Oscar nomination for Bradley Cooper]]?"''

->'''Livia''': Always remember, [Gadd] [[HeroicSacrifice gave us a great victory]].\\
'''Vekk''': I don't know how many such victories I can stand.
-->--''VideoGame/GuildWars Eye of the North''

->'''Kira:''' This war is over. You lost.
->'''Founder:''' Have I? I think you'll find that neither the Jem'Hadar or the Breen will agree with that assessment. They will fight to the last man.
->'''Kira:''' And what will that accomplish?
->'''Founder:''' Isn't it obvious? You may win this war, Commander; but I promise you, when it is over, you will have lost so many ships, so many lives, that your victory will taste as bitter as defeat.
-->--''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''

->''Nothing will make me feel better, even the victory will be bittersweet!''
-->-- '''Arin''', after dying to the purple plant boss for the millionth time in ''VideoGame/BattleKidFortressOfPeril'', ''WebVideo/GameGrumps''

->[Creator/GeorgeLucas] had made ''Franchise/StarWars'' because he had dreamed of movies like those he'd seen in his youth. He made it into a trilogy because he dreamed of an independent film-maker's paradise in Skywalker Ranch. He had risked ''everything,'' sacrificed so much, given up six years of his life in order to make this dream a reality. But in the end... all he had was a building. The facility was so state-of-the-art that the only ones who could use it were big Hollywood film-makers, not little independents, and its remoteness, no doubt meant to encourage the Northern California film industry, instead discouraged people from making the long trip there. Skywalker Ranch would be used, but mostly by Lucasfilm to serve their own film-making needs and really only because it was already there and, of course, could not be sold. And in his attempt to fulfill this dream, so many people were gone now: Creator/FrancisFordCoppola, Gary Kurtz, Charles Lippincott, John Dykstra, [=Ralph McQuarrie=]... Marcia Lucas. And there remained George Lucas. His friends and colleagues wanted to make ''Film/CitizenKane'', but Lucas? He ''lived it.'' After that, he was done.
-->--'''Website/SFDebris''', ''The Shadow's Journey''

->'''Bruce:''' [[CallBack That bandit, in the forest in Burma]]. Did you catch him?\\
'''Alfred:''' Yes, Master Bruce.\\
'''Bruce:''' How?\\
'''Alfred:''' We burned the forest down.
-->-- ''Film/TheDarkKnight''

->'''Gamora:''' Did you do it?\\
'''Thanos:''' [[TheBadGuyWins Yes.]]\\
'''Gamora:''' [[WasItReallyWorthIt What did it cost?]]\\
'''Thanos:''' Everything.
-->-- ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''

->'''Worf:''' Kahless himself said "Destroying an Empire to win a war is no victory.\\

-->-- ''Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E01E02TheWayOfTheWarrior''

----

-->-- ''Film/Avengers/InfinityWar''

-->--''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension - Iteration X'' (Revised)