Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Legacy of War

The things we do in times of war tell us something about ourselves. As individuals, that we are capable of acts of unspeakable evil, or unselfish courage.

But, as nations, war is only a tool. A means of forcing our policies upon others.

But, let's see what smarter people than I have to say about it:

"War is much too serious a matter to be entrusted to the military."
Georges Clemenceau, French politician (1841 - 1929)

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
Albert Einstein, US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

"You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake."
Jeannette Rankin, US pacifist & politician (1880 - 1973)

"War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing
each other's children."
Jimmy Carter, US diplomat & politician (1924 - )

"Either war is obsolete or men are."
R. Buckminster Fuller, US architect & engineer (1895 - 1983)

"It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it."
Robert E. Lee, US-Confederate general (1807 - 1870)

"War is a cowardly escape from the problems of peace."
Thomas Mann, German writer (1875 - 1955)

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?"
Mahatma Gandhi, "Non-Violence in Peace and War"
Indian ascetic & nationalist leader (1869 - 1948)

"If man does find the solution for world peace it will be the most revolutionary reversal of his record we have ever known."
George C. Marshall, US general (1880 - 1959)

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