Random Quotes on War.
October 20th 2007 23:10
Random Quotes on War.
One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one.
~Agatha Christie
It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners.
~Albert Camus
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
~Albert Einstein
Force always attracts men of low morality.
~Albert Einstein
Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.
~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak... Non-violence is hard work.
~Cesar Chavez
Name me an emperor who was ever struck by a cannonball.
~Charles V of France
The dangerous patriot...drifts into chauvinism and exhibits blind enthusiasm for military actions.
~Colonel James A. Donovan, Marine Corps
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security.
~Dwight D. Eisenhower
How far can you go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without?
~Dwight D. Eisenhower
Our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in...war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear.
~General Douglas MacArthur
Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
~General Omar N. Bradley
War is fear cloaked in courage.
~General William Westmoreland
Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac.
~George Orwell
All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.
~George Orwell
"My country right or wrong" is like saying, "My mother drunk or sober."
~G. K. Chesterton
Two armies that fight each other is like one large army that commits suicide.
~Henri Barbusse
War: first, one hopes to win...in the end, one is surprised that everyone has lost.
~Karl Kraus
In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful.
~Leo Tolstoy
Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.
~Mahatma Gandhi
I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.
~Mark Twain
A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.
~Oscar Wilde
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
~Voltaire
O, it is excellent To have a giant’s strength! But it is tyrannous To use it like a giant.
~William Shakespeare
Never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter.
~Winston Churchill
War is mainly a catalogue of blunders.
~Winston Churchill
One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one.
~Agatha Christie
It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners.
~Albert Camus
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
~Albert Einstein
Force always attracts men of low morality.
~Albert Einstein
Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.
~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak... Non-violence is hard work.
Name me an emperor who was ever struck by a cannonball.
~Charles V of France
The dangerous patriot...drifts into chauvinism and exhibits blind enthusiasm for military actions.
~Colonel James A. Donovan, Marine Corps
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security.
~Dwight D. Eisenhower
How far can you go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without?
~Dwight D. Eisenhower
Our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in...war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear.
~General Douglas MacArthur
Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
~General Omar N. Bradley
War is fear cloaked in courage.
~General William Westmoreland
Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac.
~George Orwell
All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.
"My country right or wrong" is like saying, "My mother drunk or sober."
~G. K. Chesterton
Two armies that fight each other is like one large army that commits suicide.
~Henri Barbusse
War: first, one hopes to win...in the end, one is surprised that everyone has lost.
~Karl Kraus
In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful.
~Leo Tolstoy
Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.
~Mahatma Gandhi
I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.
~Mark Twain
A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.
~Oscar Wilde
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
~Voltaire
O, it is excellent To have a giant’s strength! But it is tyrannous To use it like a giant.
~William Shakespeare
Never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter.
~Winston Churchill
War is mainly a catalogue of blunders.
~Winston Churchill
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Comment by tapsearcher
There wouldn't be any wars
If you are not part of any network, you do not exist -
Reason for wars - too many left outside looking in at celebration of elite groupings.
See Really Long Link or at orble
Really Long Link
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Thanks for your additions.
Comment by Nonymous
Philosophy Blog
A comment on this one -- "In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful."
I wonder, firstly, how to define "war". One thinks immediately of nations fighting nations. But then there is civil war and revolutions. And there is corporations fighting corporations, gangs fighting gangs, individuals fighting individuals. And there is the constant violence of the police -- the threat of violence, if not the actuality -- against civilian populations. -- Is nation against nation qualitatively different from these other cases, or is it on a continuum?
If on a continuum: -- (a) is it true that it's always the governments who hatch wars and never the people fighting; and (b) is it possible to exist other than in a state of perpetual war? For instance, can individuals be taught never to conflict violently; can individuals be prevented from forming groups and gangs; can gangs be taught never to conflict violently; and should any country make a promise, "We will never react violently to anyone, no matter what they do to us." Should any country disband its police force, and disband its army?
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Thanks for your comments.
Leo Tolstoy most likely had a clear concept of war when he wrote this. I see it in terms of the Napoleonic style of conquest. Cannons, blood and guts.
The question of defining war is often confused with the propaganda advantage of saying something is or is not a war. GWB says that Iraq only has an insurgency but others say that it is a civil war. Why the argument over what seems like a moot point?
The theory of the need for a perpetual state of war was something that Mussolini promoted as the key element of fascism. It is an intellectual stance that sets out to decieve people into fighting wars forever and thereby giving justification to unquestioning authority.
In answer to you question on continuum-
a: I am yet to see evidence of a war being hatch after the entire nation was fully consulted. (Name me an emperor who was ever struck by a cannonball)
b: It is possible to live in anything other than a perpetual state of war. They call it peace.
I am a bit vague on the 'everything or nothing' question about self defense.
The only alternative to violent aggression is not passive submission. There is a whole range of things that can be done with out blowing each others head off.
How people see self defense varies. Some attack then say they were provoked.
Any excuse will suit a tyrant - Cicero
Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Comment by Jeff Musall
Secular Humanity
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Thanks for your comments.
I am a bit confused about what you said.
Can you explain further?
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Thanks for your comments.
I am not in a position to judge how far fascism per say has infected the institution of the US, so it would wrong of me to try. However I am happy to draw comparisons with certain groups like the NeoCons.
Comment by JoshZ
A Simple Christian
- Guy at the start of Fallout II.
Loved the Chesterton quote.
JZ
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Thanks for comments
Chesterton cracked me up also.
Comment by LukeS
Athletics News
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Thanks for the quote.
Do you know who said it.
Comment by LukeS
Athletics News
Comment by tapsearcher
A new thing has popped up in our times. We are fighting words, images and branding. It's a war against terrorism cause by weapons of mass detruction that were not there and we used "shock and awe" to cover the killing of the innocent third parties.
At least Totalitarians wrote books for a long time before they went to war. Now we have a group that ignores history and seems like they want to do the Crusades all over again.
History tells us we are into a never ending conflict all over again that took centuries to burn itself out the last time.
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
I may do a bit of reading up.
Tapsearcher
Thanks for you comments
I not sure how to respond to you other than to say many people in history have used kind words to cover terrible crimes. Then come back later and try to white wash history.
Comment by Anonymous