Best Pyrrhic Victory Quotes | Short & Famous Sayings

“Another such victory over the Romans, and we are undone.”

Author:Pyrrhus

“Walking a short way back along the embankment, almost to where the cross stood, Smiley took another look at the bridge, as if to establish whether anything had changed, but clearly it had not, and though the wind appeared a little stronger, the snow was still swirling in all directions.”

Metaphor Cold War Smiley Pyrrhic Victory

Book:Smiley's People

Source: Smiley's People

“George, you won,' said Guillam, as they walked slowly towards the car. 'Did I?' said Smiley. 'Yes. Yes, well I suppose I did.”

Cold War Smiley Pyrrhic Victory

Book:Smiley's People

Source: Smiley's People

“I asked myself in the aftermath of the Siege of Terra whether the so-called victory was worth the cost. Now I wonder if we won at all.”

Warhammer 40k Warhammer 40000 Space Marines Dark Angels Pyrrhic Victory Pyrrhic Victories Siege Of Terra

Book:The Lion: Son of the Forest

Source: The Lion: Son of the Forest

“Mortarion was still the greater of them. He was still the stronger, the more steeped in preternatural gifts, but now all that he felt was doubt, rocked by the remorseless fury of one who had never been anything more than flighty, self-regarding and unreliable. All Mortarion could see just then was one who wished to kill him - who would do anything, sacrifice anything, fight himself beyond physical limits, destroy his own body, his own heart, his own soul, just for the satisfaction of the oaths he had made in the void. 'If you know what I did,' Mortarion cried out, fighting on now through that cold fog of indecision, 'then you know the truth of it, brother - I can no longer die.' It was as if a signal had been given. The Khan's bloodied head lifted, the remnants of his long hair hanging in matted clumps. 'Oh, I know that,' he murmured, with the most perfect contempt he had ever mustered. 'But I can.' Then he leapt. His broken legs still propelled him, his fractured arms still bore his blade, his blood-filled lungs and perforated heart still gave him just enough power, and he swept in close. If he had been in the prime of condition, the move might have been hard to counter, but he was already little more than a corpse held together by force of will, and so Silence interposed itself, catching the Khan under his armour-stripped shoulder and impaling him deep. But that didn't stop him. The parry had been seen, planned for, and so he just kept coming, dragging himself up the length of the blade until the scythe jutted out of his ruptured back and the White Tiger was in tight against Mortarion's neck. For an instant, their two faces were right up against one another - both cadaverous now, drained of blood, drained of life, existing only as masks onto pure vengeance. All their majesty was stripped away, scraped out across the utilitarian rockcrete, leaving just the desire, the violence, the brute mechanics of despite. It only took a split second. Mortarion's eyes went wide, realising that he couldn't wrench his brother away in time. The Khan's narrowed. 'And that makes the difference,' Jaghatai spat. He snapped his dao across, severing Mortarion's neck cleanly in an explosion of black bile, before collapsing down into the warp explosion that turned the landing stage, briefly, into the brightest object on the planet after the Emperor's tormented soul itself.”

Defiance Warhammer 40k Warhammer 40000 Last Stand Defiant Space Marines Pyrrhic Victory

Book:Warhawk

Source: Warhawk

“There will be a king, yes. But no kingdom.”

Power Kings Kingdom Prophecy Dark Fantasy Downfall Pyrrhic Victory Aleksei Makarenko Fall Of Kings Shadows Over Highgard

Book:Shadows Over Highgard

Source: Shadows Over Highgard