“A leader must be ready to send the soldiers under his command to their deaths”

“Honer and self sacrifice. Death does not diminish these qualities in a soldier. We shall remember.”

“Kelly hesitated, then saluted. John turned and grabbed her arm. "Come on, Spartan. Don't look back." The truth was, it was John who didn't dare look back. If he had, he would have stayed with Sam. Better to die with a friend than leave him behind. But as much as he wanted to fight and die alongside his friend, he had to set an example for the rest of the Spartans -- and live to fight another day. John and Kelly pushed the pressure doors shut behind them. "Good-bye," he whispered.”

“I take no pleasure of what needs to be done! - 343 Guilty Spark”

“I assume this is all part of some brutally simplistic plan you've thought up?" "Yes." "Oh, good.”

“4 of us, and 2000 of them. Piss-poor odds. For them.”

“For men to plunge headlong into an undertaking of vast change, they must be intensely discontented yet not destitute, and they must have the feeling that by the possession of some potent doctrine, infallible leader or some new technique they have access to a source of irresistible power. They must also have an extravagant conception of the prospects and the potentialities of the future. Finally, they must be wholly ignorant of the difficulties involved in their vast undertaking. Experience is a handicap.”