How we cite our quotes: (Scene, Line numbers)
Quote #7
MOTHER COURAGE: That's how it goes. Here they sit, one with his faith and the other with his cash box. Dunno which is more dangerous. (III, 321-324)
Mother Courage thinks two things are driving the war: money and talk about religion. Having a lot of either on hand is dangerous when you're just trying to make it through the war.
Quote #8
MOTHER COURAGE: […] Look, victory and defeat ain't bound to be same for the big shots up top as for them below, not by no means. Can be times the bottom lot find a defeat really pays them. Honour's lost, nowt else. […] As a rule you can say victory and defeat both come expensive to us ordinary folk. Best thing for us is when politics get bogged down solid. […] (III, 340-344)
Okay, war might be all about profit, but it definitely profits different people differently. That's what Mother Courage is trying to say here. Just because the "big shots" are also in it for the money doesn't mean "the bottom lot," meaning people like Mother Courage, have their leaders' interests at heart either. Mother Courage's allegiance to the war has nothing to do with the war's outcome. What's best for people in her case, who are just trying to make their living, is when the war keeps going at a steady pace.
Quote #9
MOTHER COURAGE: All your victories mean to me is losses. (V, 57)
Money warps the perspective Mother Courage takes on the war. Here she's complaining that the chaplain has taken some of her shirts to bandage the wounds of peasants injured in a Catholic victory. The "losses" refer to the money she'd hoped to make on the shirts.