WIST Quotations

Hemingway, Ernest -- Essay (1935-09), “Notes on the Next War,” Esquire, Vol. 4, No. 3

Dave — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 18:47:03 +0000

And we in America should see that no man is ever given, no matter how gradually or how noble and excellent the man, the power to put this country into a war which is now being prepared and brought closer each day with all the premeditation of a long planned murder. For when you give power to an executive you do not know who will be filling that position when the time of crisis comes.

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American writer
Essay (1935-09), “Notes on the Next War,” Esquire, Vol. 4, No. 3

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1940-05-17), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 19:09:37 +0000

Much has been said in this country about not wanting to participate in foreign wars and people who have said it, must now face the fact that foreign wars come very close to our own shores. We will always have not only the religious groups, but many groups who feel that war is wrong. I cannot imagine how anyone could feel otherwise with the picture before them today. But when force not only rules in certain countries, but is as menacing to all the world, as it is today, one cannot live in a Utopia which prays for different conditions and ignores those which exist.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, activist; First Lady of the US (1933–45)
Column (1940-05-17), “My Day”

Brecht, Bertholt -- Mother Courage and Her Children, sc. 6 (1939)

Dave — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 13:18:16 +0000

CHAPLAIN: War is like love, it always finds a way.

Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German poet, playwright, director, dramaturgist
Mother Courage and Her Children, sc. 6 (1939)

Inge, William Ralph -- “Our Present Discontents,” Outspoken Essays: First Series (1919)

Dave — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 14:03:18 +0000

History gives no countenance to the theory that popular governments are either more moral or more pacific than strong monarchies.

William Ralph Inge (1860–1954) English prelate [Dean Inge]
“Our Present Discontents,” Outspoken Essays: First Series (1919)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- This Troubled World (1938)

Dave — Wed, 13 May 2015 12:10:40 +0000

We will have to want peace, want it enough to pay for it, pay for it in our own behavior and in material ways. We will have to want it enough to overcome our lethargy and go out and find all those in other countries who want it as much as we do.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, activist; First Lady of the US (1933–45)
This Troubled World (1938)

Serling, Rod -- Commencement Speech, Binghamton Central High School, Binghamton, New York (28 Jan 1968)

Dave — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:03:59 +0000

But if survival calls for the bearing of arms, bear them, you must. As we all have. Keep in mind only this, that province of combat is not the end, it is simply the means. And the most essential part of the challenge is for you to find another means that does not come with the killing of your fellow-man.

Rod Serling (1924–1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
Commencement Speech, Binghamton Central High School, Binghamton, New York (28 Jan 1968)

Sometimes paraphrased:

If survival calls for the bearing of arms, bear them you must. But the most important part of the challenge is for you to find another means that does not come with the killing of your fellow man.