WIST Quotations

Russell, Bertrand -- Education and the Good Life, Part 1, ch. 2 “The Aims of Education” (1926)

Dave — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 16:05:58 +0000

Almost everybody is deeply affected when some one he loves suffers from cancer. Most people are moved when they see the sufferings of unknown patients in hospitals. Yet when they read that the death-rate from cancer is such-and-such, they are as a rule only moved to momentary personal fear lest they or some one dear to them should acquire the disease. The same is true of war: people think it dreadful when their son or brother is mutilated, but they do not think it a million times as dreadful that a million people should be mutilated. A man who is full of kindliness in all personal dealings may derive his income from incitement to war or from the torture of children in “backward” countries.
All these familiar phenomena are due to the fact that sympathy is not stirred, in most people, by a merely abstract stimulus. A large proportion of the evils in the modern world would cease if this could be remedied.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Good Life, Part 1, ch. 2 “The Aims of Education” (1926)
(Source)

Milne, A. A. -- Peace with Honour, ch. 16 “Patriotism and Pledges,” sec. 5 (1934)

Dave — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 20:53:14 +0000

Tell the innocent visitor from another world that two people were killed at Serajevo, and that the best that Europe could do about it was to kill eleven million more.

A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Peace with Honour, ch. 16 “Patriotism and Pledges,” sec. 5 (1934)
(Source)

Berry, Wendell -- Essay (1991), “Peaceableness Toward Enemies,” sec. 53, Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community, ch. 6 (1993)

Dave — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 19:00:17 +0000

The most alarming sign of the state of our society now is that our leaders have the courage to sacrifice the lives of young people in war, but have not the courage to tell us that we must be less greedy and less wasteful.

Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Essay (1991), “Peaceableness Toward Enemies,” sec. 53, Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community, ch. 6 (1993)
(Source)

Written at the time of the first Gulf War.

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1745 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 17:13:29 +0000

Wars bring scars.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1745 ed.)
(Source)

Russell, Bertrand -- Education and the Good Life, Part 2, ch. 11 “Affection and Sympathy” (1926)

Dave — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:19:17 +0000

I have known some pacifists who wished history taught without reference to wars, and thought that children should be kept as long as possible ignorant of the cruelty in the world. But I cannot praise the “fugitive and cloistered virtue” that depends upon absence of knowledge. As soon as history is taught at all, it should be taught truthfully. If true history contradicts any moral we wish to teach, our moral must be wrong, and we had better abandon it. I quite admit that many people, including some of the most virtuous, find facts inconvenient, but that is due to a certain feebleness in their virtue. A truly robust morality can only be strengthened by the fullest knowledge of what really happens in the world.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Good Life, Part 2, ch. 11 “Affection and Sympathy” (1926)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1961-12-20), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 17:23:16 +0000

A consciousness of the fact that war means practically total destruction is the reason, I think, for the rising tide to prevent what seems such a senseless procedure. I understand that it is perhaps difficult for some people, whose lives have been lived with a sense of the need for military development, to envisage the possibility of being no longer needed. But the average citizen is beginning to think more and more of the need to develop machinery to settle difficulties in the world without destruction or the use of atomic bombs.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1961-12-20), “My Day”
(Source)

Lincoln, Abraham -- Letter (1848-02-15) to William H. Herndon

Dave — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 21:45:17 +0000

The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making power to Congress, was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons. Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This, our Convention understood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions; and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us. But your view destroys the whole matter, and places our President where kings have always stood.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Letter (1848-02-15) to William H. Herndon
(Source)

Lincoln understood Herndon to be proposing that the President, on their own initiative and judgment, was entitled to preemptively invade another country to repel an anticipated invasion. Herndon felt this principle justified Polk's sending of troops into disputed territory, which led to the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), though Polk didn't justify his actions in that way.

Berry, Wendell -- Essay (1999), “The Failure of War,” Citizenship Papers (2003)

Dave — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 18:38:15 +0000

If you know even as little history as I do, it is hard not to doubt the efficacy of modern war as a solution to any problem except that of retribution — the “justice” of exchanging one damage for another.

Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Essay (1999), “The Failure of War,” Citizenship Papers (2003)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano -- Speech (1945-04-13), Jefferson Day (undelivered)

Dave — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 21:49:52 +0000

We seek peace — enduring peace. More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars — yes, an end to this brutal, inhuman, and thoroughly impractical method of settling the differences between governments.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933–1945)
Speech (1945-04-13), Jefferson Day (undelivered)
(Source)

Roosevelt died the day before this speech was to be delivered by radio.

Franklin, Benjamin -- (Spurious)

Dave — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 17:34:47 +0000

War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
(Spurious)

Not found in the recorded works of Franklin, nor of Napoleon Bonaparte (to whom it is also attributed). The number of variants is an indicator this is an unconfirmed attribution:

"... who the enemy is" or "... who your enemy is."
"... you figure it out ..."

The term "bad guy" is an Americanism from the early 20th Century (the OED dates it to 1932; Dictionary.com to the early 1920s). But even if one uses the "enemy" variant, this sounds unlike either Franklin or Napoleon.

Despite his skeptical nature, Franklin did not speak out against propagandistic influences on war (or revolution). Indeed, he was a skilled, if subtle, propagandist himself. Nor did he object to "government" in general (he would have attacked "the Crown" or "Parliament") nor any war that the British government had declared.
Napoleon, as self-appointed Emperor of France (and war-maker, though most of his conquests were a result of other countries declaring war on him) would not have made the first half of this phrase, as he was the government. Nor, as one whose regime depended on propaganda, would he have suggested people decide for themselves who the true enemy is.
Neither man, as a rule, wrote their various aphorisms in the second person ("you"). At most they might have used "one"; more often, it would have been "a man" or some third person construction.

The quotation is occasionally attributed to Susan Sarandon. While she did use it (e.g., at a pro-Palestinian speech), she attributed it in turn to Napoleon.

Orwell, George -- Essay (1941-02-19), “The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius,” Part 1 “England Your England,” sec. 1, The Searchlight Books [ed. Fyvel and Orwell]

Dave — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 16:15:07 +0000

As I write, highly civilised human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me.
They do not feel any enmity against me as an individual, nor I against them. They are “only doing their duty”, as the saying goes. Most of them, I have no doubt, are kind-hearted law-abiding men who would never dream of committing murder in private life. On the other hand, if one of them succeeds in blowing me to pieces with a well-placed bomb, he will never sleep any the worse for it. He is serving his country, which has the power to absolve him from evil.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1941-02-19), “The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius,” Part 1 “England Your England,” sec. 1, The Searchlight Books [ed. Fyvel and Orwell]
(Source)

Part of Part 1, "England Your England" with the title "The Ruling Class" was previously published in Horizon (1940-12).

Berry, Wendell -- Speech (2005-05-14), Commencement, Lindsey Wilson College, Columbia, Kentucky

Dave — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 20:35:32 +0000

We know that war depresses public dialogue and debate, enlarges executive power, diminishes citizens’ rights, encourages governmental secrecy and deception, and deforms the outlines of human decency. Thus a government making war for the sake of peace, freedom, and human dignity — as it will never cease to declare — will curtail the rights of prisoners, resort to torture, deny its errors, exaggerate its virtues, demonize the enemy, and (as is inevitable in modern war) kill many innocent people, including, of course, many children.

Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Speech (2005-05-14), Commencement, Lindsey Wilson College, Columbia, Kentucky
(Source)

This was either excerpted from, or included in, his undated essay "Letter to Daniel Kemmis," collected in The Way of Ignorance and Other Essays, Part 2 (2005).

Orwell, George -- Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 5, Such, Such Were the Joys, essay 8 (1953)

Dave — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 16:37:31 +0000

When one thinks of the cruelty, squalor, and futility of war — and in this particular case of the intrigues, the persecutions, the lies and the misunderstandings — there is always the temptation to say: “One side is as bad as the other. I am neutral.” In practice, however, one cannot be neutral, and there is hardly such a thing as a war in which it makes no difference who wins. Nearly always one stands more or less for progress, the other side more or less for reaction.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 5, Such, Such Were the Joys, essay 8 (1953)
(Source)

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

Dave — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 18:22:00 +0000

For years I have hoped that we could stop war as an instrument for settling any national and international difficulties. I have worked for it and shall continue to work for it. However, one has to face the world as it is and, without discarding one’s ideals, meet the realities of the day and keep on working for what one hopes will be a better future.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1940-05-17), “My Day”
(Source)

Euripides -- Medea [Μήδεια], l. 248ff (431 BC) [tr. Ewans (2022)]

Dave — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 18:13:41 +0000

MEDEA: Men say we live a safe life in the home,
While they do battle with the spear.
But they are wrong; I’d rather stand three times
with shield in hand than give birth once.

[ΜΉΔΕΙΑ: λέγουσι δ᾽ ἡμᾶς ὡς ἀκίνδυνον βίον
ζῶμεν κατ᾽ οἴκους, οἱ δὲ μάρνανται δορί,
κακῶς φρονοῦντες: ὡς τρὶς ἂν παρ᾽ ἀσπίδα
στῆναι θέλοιμ᾽ ἂν μᾶλλον ἢ τεκεῖν ἅπαξ.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 248ff (431 BC) [tr. Ewans (2022)]
(Source)

This passage was often used by woman suffragists.

(Source (Greek)). Other translations:

They still contend
That we, at home remaining, lead a life
Exempt from danger, while they launch the spear:
False are these judgements; rather would I thrice,
Arm'd with a target, in th' embattled field
Maintain my stand, than suffer once the throes
Of childbirth.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]

Yet will they say
We live an easy life, at home, secure
From danger, whilst they lift the spear in war:
Misjudging men; thrice would I stand in arms
On the rough edge of battle, e'er once bear
The pangs of childbirth.
[tr. Potter (1814)]

But, say they, we, while they fight with the spear,
Lead in our homes a life undangerous:
Judging amiss; for I would liefer thrice
Bear brunt of arms than once bring forth a child.
[tr. Webster (1868)]

And yet they say we live secure at home, while they are at the wars, with their sorry reasoning, for I would gladly take my stand in battle array three times o'er, than once give birth.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

But they say of us that we live a life of ease at home, but they are fighting with the spear; judging ill, since I would rather thrice stand in arms, than once suffer the pangs of child-birth.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

But we, say they, live an unperilled life
At home, while they do battle with the spear.
Falsely they deem: twice would I under shield
Stand, rather than bear childbirth peril once.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

And then, forsooth, 'tis they that face the call
Of war, while we sit sheltered, hid from all
Peril! -- False mocking! Sooner would I stand
Three times to face their battles, shield in hand,
Than bear one child.
[tr. Murray (1906)]

But we, they say, live a safe life at home,
While they, the men, go forth in arms to war.
Fools! Three times would I rather take my stand
With sword and shield than bring to birth one child.
[tr. Murray (1906), per Yeroulanos]

They tell us we live a sheltered life at home while they go to the wars; but that is nonsense. For I would rather go into battle twice than bear a child once.
[Source (1927)]

What they say of us is that we have a peaceful time
Living at home, while they do the fighting in war.
How wrong they are! I would very much rather stand
Three times in the front of battle than bear one child.
[tr. Warner (1944)]

Men boast their battles: I tell you this, and we know it:
It is easier to stand in battle three times, in the front line, in the stabbing fury, than to bear one child.
[tr. Jeffers (1946)]

And, they tell us, we at home
Live free from danger, they go out to battle: fools!
I'd rather stand three times in the front line than bear
One child.
[tr. Vellacott (1963)]

They say that we spend all our time at home,
And live safe lives, while they go out to battle.
What fools they are! I'd rather stand three times
Behind a shield, than bear a child once!
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]

Men say that we live a life free from danger at home while they fight with the spear. How wrong they are! I would rather stand three times with a shield in battle than give birth once.
[tr. Kovacs (1994)]

They say we live sheltered lives in the home, free from danger, while they wield their spears in battle -- what fools they are! I would rather face the enemy three times over than bear a child once.
[tr. Davie (1996)]

Then people also say that while we live quietly and without any danger at home, the men go off to war. Wrong! One birth alone is worse than three times in the battlefield behind a shield.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

They say that we live a life free of danger
at home while they face battle with the spear.
How wrong they are. I would rather stand three times
in the line of battle than once bear a child.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]

[...] I would rather stand behind a shield three times than give birth once.
[tr. @sentantiq (2011)]

They say that we live a peaceful life at home, while they do battle at spear point, but they reckon wrongly: I would rather stand armed with a shield thrice than give birth once.
[tr. @sentantiq [Erik] (2015)]

They say we live secure in our households [oikoi], while they are off at war -- how worthlessly [kakōs] they think! How gladly would I three times over take my stand behind a shield rather than once give birth!
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1743 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 16:32:56 +0000

A little well-gotten will do us more good,
Than lordships and scepters by Rapine and Blood.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1743 ed.)
(Source)

Berry, Wendell -- Speech (2005-05-14), Commencement, Lindsey Wilson College, Columbia, Kentucky

Dave — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 20:10:10 +0000

Violence, in short, is the norm of our economic life and our national security. The line that connects the bombing of a civilian population to the mountain “removed” by strip mining to the gullied and poisoned field to the clear-cut watershed to the tortured prisoner seems to run pretty straight.

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) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1940-05-17), “My Day”
(Source)

Berry, Wendell -- Speech (1968-02-10), “A Statement Against the War in Vietnam,” Kentucky Conference on the War and the Draft, University of Kentucky

Dave — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 17:09:09 +0000

Supporters of the war are constantly asking those who oppose it: Why don’t you deplore the wrongs and atrocities committed by the other side? The answer, so far as I am concerned, is that I do deplore the wrongs and atrocities committed by the other side. But I am responsible for the wrongs and atrocities committed by our side.

Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Speech (1968-02-10), “A Statement Against the War in Vietnam,” Kentucky Conference on the War and the Draft, University of Kentucky
(Source)

Collected in The Long-Legged House, Part 2 (1969).

Orwell, George -- Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 2, New Road (1943-06)

Dave — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 15:20:57 +0000

But unfortunately the truth about atrocities is far worse than that they are lied about and made into propaganda. The truth is that they happen. The fact often adduced as a reason for scepticism — that the same horror stories come up in war after war — merely makes it rather more likely that these stories are true.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 2, New Road (1943-06)
(Source)

Orwell, George -- Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 2, New Road (1943-06)

Dave — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 15:19:57 +0000

Official war propaganda, with its disgusting hypocrisy and self-righteousness, always tends to make thinking people sympathize with the enemy.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 2, New Road (1943-06)
(Source)

Berry, Wendell -- Speech (1968-02-10), “A Statement Against the War in Vietnam,” Kentucky Conference on the War and the Draft, University of Kentucky

Dave — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 17:37:16 +0000

If I solve my dispute with my neighbor by killing him, I have certainly solved the immediate dispute. If my neighbor was a scoundrel, then the world is no doubt better for his absence. But in killing my neighbor, though he may have been a terrible man who did not deserve to live, I have made myself a killer — and the life of my next neighbor is in greater peril than the life of the last.

Orwell, George -- Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 1, New Road (1943-06)

Dave — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 15:33:08 +0000

People forget that a soldier anywhere near the front line is usually too hungry, or frightened, or cold, or, above all, too tired to bother about the political origins of the war.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 1, New Road (1943-06)
(Source)

Berry, Wendell -- Speech (1968-02-10), “A Statement Against the War in Vietnam,” Kentucky Conference on the War and the Draft, University of Kentucky

Dave — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 16:55:56 +0000

Surely the idea of a “limited war” is one of the most dangerously self-deceiving verbal gimmicks ever invented. For though war makes use of reason, as a weapon, it is not reasonable in nature. Its nature is the nature of pride and anger. It follows the brute logic of violent emotion, which points directly toward the use of the greatest available power.

Euripides -- Helen [Ἑλένη], l. 1158ff, Stasimon 1, Antistrophe 2 (412 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1954), Strophe 2]

Dave — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 17:21:28 +0000

CHORUS: Why have the sons of Priam
Received each his portion in chambers of quiet earth,
When reasonable words could have solved the quarrel for Helen?
Now they live deep in the lap of Death;
And flames leaping like Zeus’s thunderbolt
Have levelled their walls with dust.

[ΧΟΡΟΣ: ᾇ Πριαμίδος γᾶς ἔλαχον θαλάμους,
ἐξὸν διορθῶσαι λόγοις
1160σὰν ἔριν, ὦ Ἑλένα.
νῦν δ᾽ οἳ μὲν Ἅιδᾳ μέλονται κάτω,
τείχεα δὲ φλογμὸς ὥστε Διός ἐπέσυτο φλόξ,
ἐπὶ δὲ πάθεα πάθεσι φέρεις
† ἀθλίοις συμφοραῖς αἰλίνοις.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Helen [Ἑλένη], l. 1158ff, Stasimon 1, Antistrophe 2 (412 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1954), Strophe 2]
(Source)

(Source (Greek)). Other translations:

Outrageous to destroy
The spear hath desolation spread,
With slaughter stain'd the widow'd bed,
And desolated Troy.
Yet well might Reason's suasive charms
Have made each warring foe a friend:
But many in the shock of arms
To Pluto's dreary realms descend;
Fires, like the flames of Jove, the walls surround,
And Ilium's ramparts smoke upon the ground.
[tr. Potter (1783), Antistrophe 2]

Hence from her home departs each Phrygian wife,
O Helen, when the cruel strife
Which from thy chamors arose,
One conference might have closed: now myriads dwell
With Pluto in the shades of Hell,
And flames, as when Jove's vengeance throws
The bolt, have caught her towers and finished Ilion's woes.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

Which left the dwellings of the land of Priam, when it was in their power to decide by words the strife concerning thee, O Helen. But now they indeed are the care of Hades below, and fire, like the lightning of Jove, has fallen on their walls.
[tr. Buckley (1850)]

By it [strife] they won as their lot bed-chambers of Priam's earth, when they could have set right by discussion the strife over you, O Helen. And now they are below in Hades' keeping, and fire has darted onto the walls like the bolt of Zeus.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

The maidens of the land of Priam left their bridal bowers, though arbitration might have put thy quarrel right, O Helen. And now Troy's sons are in Hades' keeping in the world below, and fire hath darted on her walls, as darts the flame of Zeus.
[tr. Coleridge (alt.)]

Lo, how its storm o'er homes of Ilium brake,
Yea, though fair words might once have wrought amending,
Helen, of wrong, of quarrel for thy sake!
Now are her sons in depths of Hades lying;
Flame o'er her walls leapt, like Zeus' levin-glare.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1912)]

So to Priam's people came
Madness in the midst of ease,
Lust of battle. No man sought
Peace by suasion. Still they fought
For Helen's sake, and still from Greece
Thronged the fighters. Low they lie.
Death has won the victory.
The bolt of Zeus struck home. The towers of Troy
Perished for Helen's sake. Yet Helen hath no joy.
[tr. Sheppard (1925)]

It was that fate came to the homes
of Priam's land when, Helen, that strife of yours
still could have bene set aright by argument.
And now there are some in Hades' power
below, and upon the walls, like the flame of the lightning,
the fire has crept.
[tr. Warner (1951)]

By hate they won the chambers of Priam's city;
they could have solved by reason and words
the quarrel, Helen, for you.
Now these are given to the Death God below.
On the walls the flame, as of Zeus, lightened and fell.
[tr. Lattimore (1956)]

They received each one his portion of Trojan earth to slumber in, when reasoned argument might have solved the dispute you roused, Helen. Now they lie deep in Hades' lap, and Troy's walls, as if struck by Zeus' fiery thunderbolt, lie levelled.
[tr. Davie (2002)]

This time the Trojans won
The boxes, underground --
They could have talked,
Settled their quarrel over you, Helen,
With words.
Now they march in the ranks of Death,
While searing flames destroy their walls --
Downed by a force like
Zeus' lightning.
[tr. A. Wilson (2007)]

War, Helen, brought them their death on Priam’s land, when they argued about you, yet they could have resolved their differences about you with words alone.
Now they are in the hands of Hades!
Flames, shot like arrows from Zeus have spread across their towers.
[tr. Theodoridis (2011)]

Strife it was that won them chambers in Priam’s soil
They could have straightened out with words,
your quarrel, O Helen, ah!
As things are, Hades below welcomes them
and a deadly fire, like Zeus’, swept over the walls of Troy.
[tr. Ambrose et al. (2018), Antistrophe B]

By it they won as their lot bed-chambers of Priam’s earth, when they could have set right by discussion the strife [eris] over you, O Helen. And now they are below in Hādēs’ keeping, and fire has darted onto the walls like the bolt of Zeus.
[tr. Coleridge / Helen Heroization Team]

Berry, Wendell -- Speech (1968-02-10), “A Statement Against the War in Vietnam,” Kentucky Conference on the War and the Draft, University of Kentucky

Dave — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 18:15:36 +0000

We have come to depend obsessively on an enormous capability of violence — for security, for national self-esteem, even for economic stability.

Orwell, George -- Essay (1941-09), “The Art of Donald McGill,” Horizon Magazine

Dave — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 11:46:58 +0000

Society has always to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice. It has to demand faultless discipline and self-sacrifice, it must expect its subjects to work hard, pay their taxes, and be faithful to their wives, it must assume that men think it glorious to die on the battlefield and women want to wear themselves out with child-bearing. The whole of what one may call official literature is founded on such assumptions.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1941-09), “The Art of Donald McGill,” Horizon Magazine
(Source)

Euripides -- Helen [Ἑλένη], l. 1151ff, Stasimon 1, Antistrophe 2 (412 BC) [tr. Sheppard (1925)]

Dave — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 21:15:52 +0000

CHORUS: Fools who fain would carve a name
Of honour in the fields of fame,
Valiant in the press of war,
Men and fighters — fools they are!
How shall death and wounds and shame
Heal the world’s distrated life?
Vain endeavour! Strife of strife
Misbegotten bringeth no release,
Nor by conquest shall man conquer peace.

[ΧΟΡΟΣ: ἄφρονες ὅσοι τὰς ἀρετὰς πολέμῳ
λόγχαισί τ᾽ ἀλκαίου δορὸς
κτᾶσθε, πόνους ἀμαθῶς θνα-
τῶν καταπαυόμενοι:
εἰ γὰρ ἅμιλλα κρινεῖ νιν
αἵματος, οὔποτ᾽ ἔρις
λείψει κατ᾽ ἀνθρώπων πόλεις]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Helen [Ἑλένη], l. 1151ff, Stasimon 1, Antistrophe 2 (412 BC) [tr. Sheppard (1925)]
(Source)

(Source (Greek)). Other translations:

Think you, fond men, whose martial pride
Glows 'midst the bleeding ranks of war,
By the couragous spear
The strife of mortals to decide?
Vain are your thoughts: should rage abhor'd
That glories in the purple flood,
The contest only end with blood,
Unsheath'd through angry states would flame the sword.
[tr. Potter (1783)]

Frantic are ye who seek renown
Amid the horrors of th' embattled field,
Who masking guile beneath a laurel crown
With nervous arm the falchion wield,
Not slaughtered thousands can your fury state.
If still success the judgment guide,
If bloody battle right and wrong decide,
Incessant strive must vex each rival state.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

Foolish ye, as many as obtain [the renown of] valor by war, foolishly resting form the toils of mortals in the spears of valiant war. For if the contest of blood is to determine [men's quarrels], never will strife leave the cities of men.
[tr. Buckley (1850)]

You are fools, who try to win a reputation for virtue through war and marshalled lines of spears, senselessly putting an end to mortal troubles; for if a bloody quarrel is to decide it, strife will never leave off in the towns of men.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

O fools! all ye who try to win the meed of valour through war and serried ranks of chivalry, seeking thus to still this mortal coil, in senselessness; for if bloody contests are to decide, there will never be any lack of strife in the towns of men.
[tr. Coleridge (alt.)]

Madmen, all ye who strive for manhood's guerdons
Battling with shock of lances, seeking ease
Senselessly so from galling of life's burdens!
Never, if blood be arbitress of peace,
Strife between towns of men shall find an ending.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1912)]

Madness it is to attempt to find virtue in war
and the blades of the spear in the fight,
so ignorantly to relieve the misfortunes of men.
For if a contest of blood is the arbiter, then there will always
be strife in the cities of men.
[tr. Warner (1951)]

You who in earnest ignorance
Would check the deeds of lawless men,
And in the clash of spear on spear
Gain honour -- you are all stark mad!
If men, to settle each dispute
Must needs compete in bloodshed, when
Shall violence vanish, hate be soothed,
Or men and cities live in peace?
[tr. Vellacott (1954), Strophe 2]

Mindless, all of you, who in the strength of spears
and the tearing edge win your valors
by war, thus stupidly trying
to halt the grief of the world.
For if bloody debate shall settle
the issue, never again
shall hate be gone out of the cities of men.
[tr. Lattimore (1956)]

What fools you are, all who seek to gain honour in war and the clash of spear on spear, stupidly trying to solve men’s troubles by death! If they are to be settled by contest of blood, never will strife end among the cities of men.
[tr. Davie (2002)]

You are mad,
You men
Who think that war's
The proof of manhood,
Squabbling with spears and lances --
A futile way
To solve man's problems.
If we settle things
By seeing who can bleed the most,
War will always
Haunt our cities.
[tr. A. Wilson (2007)]

Men! What fools they are when they look for glory with spears on the harsh battlefield!
How foolish your efforts to end men’s pains through slaughter!
If it is blood you wish to be the judge of right or wrong in the arguments between men, then war will never leave the cities.
[tr. Theodoridis (2011)]

You are fools who would acquire virtue in war
and sharpened point of mighty spear --
stupidly coming to terms with toil -- but your death is the price.
And if a conflict of blood decide, then the strife never will
forsake the cities of mankind.
[tr. Ambrose et al. (2018)]

You are fools, who try to win a reputation for virtue [aretē] through war and marshalled lines of spears, senselessly putting an end to mortal troubles [ponos]; for if a bloody quarrel is to decide [krinein] it, strife [eris] will never leave off in the cities [polis] of men
[tr. Coleridge / Helen Heroization Team]

James, William -- Essay (1910-02), “The Moral Equivalent of War,” Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 77 (1910-10)

Dave — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 23:28:19 +0000

Without any exception known to me, militarist authors take a highly mystical view of their subject, and regard war as a biological or sociological necessity, uncontrolled by ordinary psychological checks or motives. When the time of development is ripe the war must come, reason or no reason, for the justifications pleaded are invariably fictions. War is, in short, a permanent human obligation.

William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher
Essay (1910-02), “The Moral Equivalent of War,” Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 77 (1910-10)
(Source)

James, William -- Essay (1910-02), “The Moral Equivalent of War,” Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 77 (1910-10)

Dave — Sat, 27 Sep 2025 20:03:49 +0000

“Peace” in military mouths today is a synonym for “war expected.” The word has become a pure provocative, and no government wishing peace sincerely should allow it ever to be printed in a newspaper. Every up-to-date dictionary should say that “peace” and “war” mean the same thing, now in posse, now in actu. It may even reasonably be said that the intensely sharp preparation for war by the nations is the real war, permanent, unceasing; and that the battles are only a sort of public verification of the mastery gained during the “peace”-interval.

William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher
Essay (1910-02), “The Moral Equivalent of War,” Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 77 (1910-10)
(Source)

Thompson, Hunter S. -- Kingdom of Fear, “Memo from the Sports Desk” (2003)

Dave — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 14:22:13 +0000

The real power in America is held by a fast-emerging new Oligarchy of pimps and preachers who see no need for Democracy or fairness or even trees, except maybe the ones in their own yards, and they don’t mind admitting it. They worship money and power and death. Their ideal solution to all the nation’s problems would be another 100 Year War.

Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) American journalist, writer
Kingdom of Fear, “Memo from the Sports Desk” (2003)
(Source)

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 8, ch. 4 / sec. 12 (8.4/8.12) (43-02-03 BC) [tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]

Dave — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 16:28:54 +0000

What juster reason is there for the waging of war than to repel slavery? a condition in which, though your master may not be oppressive, yet it is a wretched thing he should have the power to be so if he will.

[Quae causa iustior est belli gerendi quam servitutis depulsio? in qua etiamsi not sit molestus dominus, tamen est miserrimum posse, se velit.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 8, ch. 4 / sec. 12 (8.4/8.12) (43-02-03 BC) [tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

What juster cause is there for waging war than the wish to repel slavery? in which, even if one's master be not tyrannical, yet it is a most miserable thing that he should be able to be so if he chooses.
[tr. Yonge (1903)]

Is there any better reason for waging war than to ward off slavery? In slavery, even if the master is not oppressive, the sorry thing still is that he can be if he wishes.
[tr. Manuwald (2007)]

What cause for war is more just than the repulsion of slavery? even under a benign master, it is miserable that he has the power, if he wants to use it.
[tr. Wiseman]

Marlowe, Christopher -- Tamburlaine the Great, Part 1, Act 2, sc. 4 (1586-1587)

Dave — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 20:21:40 +0000

MYCETES: Accurst be he that first invented war!

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet
Tamburlaine the Great, Part 1, Act 2, sc. 4 (1586-1587)
(Source)

More on Timur (Tamerlane, Tamburlaine).

Hoover, Herbert -- Speech (1944-06-27), “Freedom in America and the World,” Republican National Convention, Chicago

Dave — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 16:40:18 +0000

Older men declare war. But it is youth who must fight and die. And it is youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow, and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war.

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) American engineer, bureaucrat, US President (1929-33)
Speech (1944-06-27), “Freedom in America and the World,” Republican National Convention, Chicago
(Source)

Orwell, George -- Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 1, New Road (1943-06)

Dave — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 15:06:23 +0000

One of the essential experiences of war is never being able to escape from disgusting smells of human origin.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 1, New Road (1943-06)
(Source)

James, William -- Essay (1910-02), “The Moral Equivalent of War,” Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 77 (1910-10)

Dave — Sat, 06 Sep 2025 19:02:27 +0000

Modern war is so expensive that we feel trade to be a better avenue to plunder; but modern man inherits all the innate pugnacity and all the love of glory of his ancestors. Showing war’s irrationality and horror is of no effect upon him. The horrors make the fascination. War is the strong life; it is life in extremis; war-taxes are the only ones men never hesitate to pay; as the budgets of all nations show us.

William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher
Essay (1910-02), “The Moral Equivalent of War,” Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 77 (1910-10)
(Source)

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 7, ch. 6 / sec. 19 (7.6/7.19) (43-01 BC) [tr. Manuwald (2007)]

Dave — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 16:53:13 +0000

And I am not against peace, but I dread war camouflaged as peace. Therefore, if we wish to enjoy peace, we must wage war; if we fail to wage war, we shall never enjoy peace.

[Nec ego pacem nolo, sed pacis nomine bellum involutum reformido. Qua re si pace frui volumus, bellum gerendum est; si bellum omittimus, pace numquam fruemur.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 7, ch. 6 / sec. 19 (7.6/7.19) (43-01 BC) [tr. Manuwald (2007)]
(Source)

On declaring a truce with Mark Antony and his forces, giving Antony's army a chance to grow in number.

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

Nor have I any dislike to peace; only I do dread war disguised under the name of peace. Wherefore, if we wish to enjoy peace we must first wage war. If we shrink from war, peace we shall never have.
[tr. Yonge (1903)]

If we desire to enjoy peace, we must first wage war; if we shrink from war, we shall never enjoy peace.
[ed. Harbottle (1906)]

I do not refuse peace, but war clothed with the name of peace I dread much. Wherefore, if we wish to enjoy peace, we must wage war; if we reject war we shall never enjoy peace.
[tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]

Berry, Wendell -- Essay (2003-02-09), “A Citizen’s Response,” sec. 4, Citizenship Papers (2003)

Dave — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 20:01:32 +0000

And now we are stirring up the question whether or not Islam is a warlike religion, ignoring the question, much more urgent for us, whether or not Christianity is a warlike religion. There is no hope in this. Islam, Judaism, Christianity — all have been warlike religions. All have tried to make peace and rid the world of evil by fighting wars. This has not worked. It is never going to work. The failure belongs inescapably to all of these religions insofar as they have been warlike, and to acknowledge this failure is the duty of all of them. It is the duty of all of them to see that it is wrong to destroy the world, or risk destroying it, to get rid of its evil.

Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Essay (2003-02-09), “A Citizen’s Response,” sec. 4, Citizenship Papers (2003)
(Source)

This passage did not appear in the original (abridged) full-page ad in the New York Times (2003-02-06) or the Orion Magazine (2003-03/04) publication of the essay.

Bolt, Robert -- Doctor Zhivago, Part 1, film (1965)

Dave — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 20:19:50 +0000

YEVGRAF: Happy men don’t volunteer. They wait their turn, and thank God if their age or work delays it.

Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
Doctor Zhivago, Part 1, film (1965)
(Source)

On army recruitment. This line is not in the 1957 Boris Pasternak novel.

Horace -- Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 2, # 2 “Quae virtus et quanta,” l. 106ff (2.2.106-111) (30 BC) [tr. Fuchs (1977)]

Dave — Fri, 09 May 2025 16:09:46 +0000

I know, you always come out on top, the great exception.
Well, someday your enemies will laugh and laugh. Consider:
life is full of changes, and who can stand them better? A man
who treats his body and proud mind to luxury, addicting them,
or someone used to little, and to thinking of the future,
a man wise in peacetime, preparing then the tools of war?

[Uni nimirum recte tibi semper erunt res,
o magnus posthac inimicis risus. Uterne
ad casus dubios fidet sibi certius? Hic qui
pluribus adsuerit mentem corpusque superbum,
an qui contentus parvo metuensque futuri
in pace, ut sapiens, aptarit idonea bello?]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 2, # 2 “Quae virtus et quanta,” l. 106ff (2.2.106-111) (30 BC) [tr. Fuchs (1977)]
(Source)

Reply when a rich person argues with the narrator that they are so wealthy they need not be concerned about wasteful spending. The last line, about a wise man preparing for war during times of peace, is often quoted on its own.

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

O ieste, unto thy very foes, for, whether may have more,
(If fortune frowne, and grefes growe on) esperance to his store?
Thou: which was maried to thy mucke, and freshe in gay attyre,
Or he: that dreading chaunce to cum, a litle doth desyre,
And keepes it well, and warylye to helpe in hopelesse tyde:
Lyke as the wyse in golden peace for stormye warre provide.
[tr. Drant (1567)]

Cant thou suppose
Thy fate alone will still be prosperous;
Oh, how thine enemies will laugh at thee,
When thou'rt reduc'd to want and beggary!
Which of the two can certainest rely
On his own temper in adversity?
That man whose pamper'd body and his mind,
Have ever been to luxury inclin'd,
Or that's content with little, and doth fear
What may fall out, and wisely does prepare
In time of peace things requisite for war.
[tr. A. F.; ed. Brome (1666)]

Kind fortune still, forsooth, shall smile on Thee,
O future sport unto thine Enemy!
And which is better able to endure
Uncertain Chance? And which lives most secure?
He that doth never Fortune's smiles distrust,
But Pampers up himself, and feeds his Lust?
Or He that lives on little now, and spares;
And wisely when 'tis Peace, provides for Wars?
[tr. Creech (1684)]

Shalt thou alone no change of fortune know?
Thou future laughter to thy deadliest foe!
But who, with conscious spirit self-secure,
A change of fortune better shall endure?
He, who with such variety of food
Pampers his passions, and inflames his blood,
Or he, contented with his little store,
And wisely cautious of the future hour,
Who in the time of peace with prudent care
Shall for the extremities of war prepare?
[tr. Francis (1747)]

Shalt thou alone feel no reverse? Shalt thou
Thrive on for ever as thou thrivest now?
Poor child of scorn! Say which with better grace
May dare to look pert Fortune in the face --
The man that still in luxury's lap reclined
Pampers his body and unnerves his mind --
Or he that, with a little well content
And of his future comforts provident,
Like a wise chief is cautious to prepare
In time of peace the requisites for war?
[tr. Howes (1845)]

What, will matters always go well with you alone? 0 thou, that hereafter shalt be the great derision of thine enemies! which of the two shall depend upon himself in exigences with most certainty? He who has used his mind and high-swollen body to redundancies; or he who, contented with a little and provident for the future, like a wise man in time of peace, shall make the necessary preparations for war?
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

No doubt on you alone will fortune never cease to smile! O you doomed soon to be great source of laughter to your enemies when all your wealth is spent! Now which of these two characters will have a surer self-reliance 'gainst reverse? The one who has long used his haughty mind and pampered frame to luxury, or he who, satisfied with humble life, and careful of his future lot, like a good general has well prepared for war in time of peace.
[tr. Millington (1870)]

Ay, you're the man: the world will go your way ...
O how your foes will laugh at you one day!
Take measure of the future: which will feel
More confidence in self, come woe, come weal,
He that, like you, by long indulgence plants
In body and in mind a thousand wants,
Or he who, wise and frugal, lays in stores
In view of war ere war is at the doors?
[tr. Conington (1874)]

You alone, of course, will always find things go well. Oh, what a laughing-stock you will be some day for your enemies! Which of the two, in face of changes and chances, will have more self-confidence -- he who has accustomed a pampered mind and body to superfluities, or he who, content with little and fearful of the future, has in peace, like a wise man, provided for the needs of war?
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]

For you alone, things will always go well: how interesting!
Later on, your foes will get a big laugh out of you.
Of the following two, which one has the better chance
Of remaining self-assured in vicissitude:
The man who has accustomed his mind and magnificent body
To all the luxuries or the man who, content with little,
Fearing the future, provides in time of peace,
As a wise man should, the equipment required for war?
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]

Undoubtedly you believe that for you,
only for you, things will always go well.
And then arrives the day when your enemies
will have the last laugh. In the changeable
events of life, who can count on himself
with greater security? -- he who has
proudly habituated both his body
and his soul to superfluous luxuries,
or he who, content with little, and fearful
of the future, has the wisdom to prepare
himself in peacetime for that which serves in war?
[tr. Alexander (1999)]

Fate won't snicker at you
ever, you must think; what good fun you'll provide
your enemies one of these days. Who will
fare better when his luck changes, one who
coddles mind and body with all comforts,
or one who can get by on little and
prepares for change, the way a wise man
keeps his weapons oiled and sharp in peacetime?
[tr. Matthews (2002)]

For you alone, I suppose, nothing will ever go wrong.
What a whale of a laugh you'll give your enemies! In times of crisis
which of the two will have greater confidence -- the man who has led
his mind and body to expect affluence as of right,
or the man with few needs who is apprehensive of the future
and who in peacetime has wisely made preparations for war?
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]

You alone, is it, trouble won’t touch!
O how your enemies will laugh some day! In times
Of uncertainty who’s more confident? The man
Who’s accustomed a fastidious mind and body
To excess, or the man content with little, wary
Of what’s to come, who wisely in peace prepared for war?
[tr. Kline (2015)]

Bolt, Robert -- Lawrence of Arabia, Part 2, sc. 411 (1962) [with Michael Wilson]

Dave — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 20:36:10 +0000

FEISAL: Young men make wars — and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men — courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace, and the vices of peace are the vices of old men — mistrust and caution.

Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
Lawrence of Arabia, Part 2, sc. 411 (1962) [with Michael Wilson]
(Source)

Euripides -- Erectheus [Ἐρεχθεύς], frag. 369 (TGF) (422 BC) [tr. Wodhull (1809)]

Dave — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 17:26:35 +0000

CHORUS: Around my javelin let the spider weave
Her subtle threads; while I, grown old in peace …

[ΧΟΡΟΣ: κείσθω δόρυ μοι μίτον ἀμφιπλέκειν ἀράχναις·
μετὰ δ’ ἡσυχίας πολιῷ γήρᾳ συνοικῶν]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Erectheus [Ἐρεχθεύς], frag. 369 (TGF) (422 BC) [tr. Wodhull (1809)]
(Source)

Nauck frag. 369, Barnes frag. 53, Musgrave frag. 6. (Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

May my spear idle lie, and spiders spin
Their webs about it! May I, oh may I, pass
My hoary age in peace!
[tr. Wordsworth (1836)]

Let my spear lie idle for spiders to weave their webs
on it. May I live in tranquillity, dwelling with grey
old age.
[tr. Cropp]

Lincoln, Abraham -- Speech (1863-11-19), “Dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg [Gettysburg Address],” Pennsylvania

Dave — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 20:10:56 +0000

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1863-11-19), “Dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg [Gettysburg Address],” Pennsylvania
(Source)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris

Dave — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 18:39:52 +0000

Every honorable effort should always be made to avoid war, just as every honorable effort should always be made by the individual in private life to keep out of a brawl, to keep out of trouble; but no self-respecting individual, no self-respecting nation, can or ought to submit to wrong.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
(Source)

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Epistulae ad Atticum [Letters to Atticus], Book 7, Letter 14, sec. 3 (7.14.3) (49 BC) [tr. Shackleton Bailey (1968), # 138]

Dave — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 18:57:28 +0000

I continue to urge peace. Even an unjust peace is better than the most just of wars against one’s countrymen.

[Equidem ad pacem hortari non desino; quae vel iniusta utilior est quam iustissimum bellum cum civibus.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Epistulae ad Atticum [Letters to Atticus], Book 7, Letter 14, sec. 3 (7.14.3) (49 BC) [tr. Shackleton Bailey (1968), # 138]
(Source)

See also this letter from 46 BC. (Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

For my part, I never cease urging peace, which, however unfair, is better than the justest war in the world.
[tr. Shuckburgh (1900), #309]

As for me, I cease not to advocate peace. It may be on unjust terms, but even so it is more expedient than the justest of civil wars.
[tr. Winstedt (Loeb) (1913)]

Swift, Jonathan -- Gulliver’s Travels, Part 4 “Voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms,” ch. 5 (1726)

Dave — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 21:26:33 +0000

A soldier is a yahoo hired to kill in cold blood as many of his own species, who have never offended him, as possibly he can.

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) English writer and churchman
Gulliver’s Travels, Part 4 “Voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms,” ch. 5 (1726)
(Source)

Following a long litany of the causes of wars in Europe, the number of such causes leading to the "trade of a soldier" being held "the most honourable of all others," for the above reason.

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano -- Speech (1941-01-06) to Congress, Annual Message (State of the Union), “Four Freedoms,” Washington, D. C.

Dave — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 23:42:03 +0000

We will not be intimidated by the threats of dictators that they will regard as a breach of international law or as an act of war our aid to the democracies which dare to resist their aggression. Such aid is not an act of war, even if a dictator should unilaterally proclaim it so to be.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933–1945)
Speech (1941-01-06) to Congress, Annual Message (State of the Union), “Four Freedoms,” Washington, D. C.
(Source)

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano -- Speech (1941-01-06) to Congress, Annual Message (State of the Union), “Four Freedoms,” Washington, D. C.

Dave — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 23:17:19 +0000

Principles of morality and considerations for our own security will never permit us to acquiesce in a peace dictated by aggressors and sponsored by appeasers. We know that enduring peace cannot be bought at the cost of other people’s freedom.

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Patriot,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Dave — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 18:41:01 +0000

PATRIOT, n. One to whom the interests of a part seem superior to those of the whole. The dupe of statesmen and the tool of conquerors.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Patriot,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)

Originally published in the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1904-12-26) and the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1904-01-03).

Those newspaper versions also included:

A person whose zeal for the defense of his country’s altars and fires is not inconsistent with a fierce desire to cross the border to overturn the altars and extinguish the fires of another land.

See Bierce's definition of "Patriotism."

Rogers, Will -- Column (1929-08-11), “Daily Telegram: Praise to Russia and China”

Dave — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 16:05:23 +0000

The more ignorant you are, the quicker you fight.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1929-08-11), “Daily Telegram: Praise to Russia and China”
(Source)

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Epistulae ad Familiares [Letters to Friends], Book 6, Letter 6, sec. 5 (6.6.5), to Aulus Cæcina (46 BC) [tr. Shuckburgh (1899), #486]

Dave — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 17:30:28 +0000

Any peace, even the most inequitable, should be preferred to the most righteous war.

[Iniquissimam pacem iustissimo bello anteferrem.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Epistulae ad Familiares [Letters to Friends], Book 6, Letter 6, sec. 5 (6.6.5), to Aulus Cæcina (46 BC) [tr. Shuckburgh (1899), #486]
(Source)

On his efforts to prevent a civil war between Caesar and Pompeius. See also this letter (49 BC)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translation:

Peace: the which, though it were accompanied with unequall conditions, yet I preferred it before warre, which on our behalfe was most just.
[tr. Webbe (1620)]

Contests of this kind, tho' ever so justly founded, even the most disadvantageous terms of accommodation were preferable to having recourse to arms.
[tr. Melmoth (1753), 9.34]

Why I would choose the most unfair peace in preference to the fairest of wars.
[tr. Jeans (1880), # 91]

A peace even on the most unfavourable terms was preferable to the most righteous of wars.
[tr. Williams (Loeb) (1928)]

[...] the most inequitable peace as preferable to the most righteous of wars.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1978), # 234]

I would prefer the most unfair peace to the justest war.
[tr. @sententiq (2012)]

Peters, Ellis -- Dead Man’s Ransom, ch. 1 (1984)

Dave — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 00:23:08 +0000

Those who go forth to the battle never return without holes in their ranks, like gaping wounds. Pity of all pities that those who lead never learn, and the few wise men among those who follow never quite avail to teach. But faith given and allegiance pledged are stronger than fear, thought Cadfael, and that, perhaps, is virtue, even in the teeth of death. Death, after all, is the common expectation from birth. Neither heroes nor cowards can escape it.

Ellis Peters (1913-1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
Dead Man’s Ransom, ch. 1 (1984)
(Source)

On return of Shrewsbury's troops after fighting battles for King Stephen against the Earls of Chester and Lincoln.

Martin, George R. R. -- Interview (2014-04-23) by Mikal Gilmore, “The Rolling Stone Interview,” Rolling Stone

Dave — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:06:39 +0000

World War I is much more typical of the wars of history than World War II — the kind of war you look back afterward and say, “What the hell were we fighting for? Why did all these millions of people have to die? Was it really worth it to get rid of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, that we wiped out an entire generation, and tore up half the continent? Was the War of 1812 worth fighting? The Spanish-American War? What the hell were these people fighting for?”

George R. R. Martin (b. 1948) American author and screenwriter [George Raymond Richard Martin]
Interview (2014-04-23) by Mikal Gilmore, “The Rolling Stone Interview,” Rolling Stone
(Source)

Martin, George R. R. -- Interview (2014-04-23) by Mikal Gilmore, “The Rolling Stone Interview,” Rolling Stone

Dave — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 22:11:48 +0000

The war that Tolkien wrote about was a war for the fate of civilization and the future of humanity, and that’s become the template. I’m not sure that it’s a good template, though. The Tolkien model led generations of fantasy writers to produce these endless series of dark lords and their evil minions who are all very ugly and wear black clothes. But the vast majority of wars throughout history are not like that.

George R. R. Martin (b. 1948) American author and screenwriter [George Raymond Richard Martin]
Interview (2014-04-23) by Mikal Gilmore, “The Rolling Stone Interview,” Rolling Stone
(Source)

Herbert, George -- Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 1141 (1651 ed.)

Dave — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 18:20:10 +0000

When war begin, then hell openeth.

George Herbert (1593-1633) Welsh priest, orator, poet.
Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 1141 (1651 ed.)
(Source)

Euripides -- Cyclops [Κύκλωψ], l. 280ff (c. 424-23 BC) [tr. Kovacs (1994)]

Dave — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 13:56:13 +0000

CYCLOPS: Are you the ones who went to punish Ilium on the Scamander for the theft of the worthless Helen?

ODYSSEUS: Yes, we are the ones who endured that terrible toil.

CYCLOPS: Disgraceful expedition, to sail for the sake of one woman to the land of the Phrygians!

ODYSSEUS: It was the doing of a god: blame no mortal for it.

[ΚΥΚΛΩΨ: ἦ τῆς κακίστης οἳ μετήλθεθ᾽ ἁρπαγὰς
Ἑλένης Σκαμάνδρου γείτον᾽ Ἰλίου πόλιν.

ΟΔΥΣΣΕΥΣ: οὗτοι, πόνον τὸν δεινὸν ἐξηντληκότες.

ΚΥΚΛΩΨ: αἰσχρὸν στράτευμά γ᾽, οἵτινες μιᾶς χάριν
γυναικὸς ἐξεπλεύσατ᾽ ἐς γαῖαν Φρυγῶν.

ΟΔΥΣΣΕΥΣ: θεοῦ τὸ πρᾶγμα: μηδέν᾽ αἰτιῶ βροτῶν.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Cyclops [Κύκλωψ], l. 280ff (c. 424-23 BC) [tr. Kovacs (1994)]
(Source)

Regarding the Trojan War, as told in Homer's Illiad.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

POLYPHEME:Are ye the men
Who worthless Helen's ravisher pursued
To Ilion's turrets on Scamander's bank?
ULYSSES: The same: most dreadful toils have we endured.
POLYPHEME: Dishonourable warfare; in the cause
Of one vile woman, ye to Phrygia sail'd.
ULYSSES: Such was the will of Jove; on no man charge
The fault.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

CYCLOPS: What, have ye shared in the unenvied spoil
Of the false Helen, near Scamander's stream?
ULYSSES: The same, having endured a woeful toil.
CYCLOPS: Oh, basest expedition! sailed ye not
From Greece to Phrygia for one woman's sake?
ULYSSES: 'Twas the Gods' work -- no mortal was in fault.
[tr. Shelley (1824)]

CYCLOPS: Are ye the men who visited on Ilium, that bordereth on Scamander's wave, the rape of Helen, worst of women?
ODYSSEUS: We are; that was the fearful labour we endured.
CYCLOPS: A sorry expedition yours, to have sailed to the land of Phrygia for the sake of one woman.
ODYSSEUS: It was a god's doing; blame not any son of man.
[tr. Coleridge (1913)]

CYCLOPS: Oho ! then you’re the men who went in search
Of Helen, who left her husband in the lurch,
And ran away to Ilium by Scamander?
ODYSSEUS: Yes: slippery fish -- hard work to hook and land her.
CYCLOPS: Yes -- and a most disgraceful exhibition
You made of your own selves! -- an expedition
To Phrygia, for one petticoat! -- disgusting!
ODYSSEUS: Don’t blame us men: it was the Gods’ on-thrusting.
[tr. Way (1916)]

Le Guin, Ursula K. -- The Left Hand of Darkness, ch. 8 (1969)

Dave — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 14:36:17 +0000

Primitiveness and civilization are degrees of the same thing. If civilization has an opposite, it is war. Of these two things, you have either one, or the other. Not both.

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) American writer
The Left Hand of Darkness, ch. 8 (1969)
(Source)

Dickinson, Lowes -- “The War and the Way Out: A Further Consideration,” sec. 3, Atlantic Monthly (1915-04)

Dave — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 21:27:01 +0000

The task of war is to destroy life; the task of peace is to create it; to organize labor so that it shall not incapacitate men for leisure; to establish justice as a foundation for personality; to unfold in men the capacity for noble joy and profound sorrow; to liberate them for the passion of love, the perception of beauty, the contemplation of truth. Of all these things war is the enemy.

G. Lowes Dickinson (1862-1932) British political scientist and philosopher [Goldsworthy "Goldie" Lowes Dickinson]
“The War and the Way Out: A Further Consideration,” sec. 3, Atlantic Monthly (1915-04)
(Source)

Dickinson, Lowes -- “The War and the Way Out: A Further Consideration,” sec. 2, Atlantic Monthly (Apr 1915)

Dave — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 20:32:55 +0000

A war which is destroying men as they have never been destroyed before, from which at the best the nations will emerge permanently degraded in their stock, poorer in physique, duller in intelligence, weaker in will than they went in, this war is to be protracted until the whole manhood of Europe is decimated, in order — in order to what? Let us ask in detail.
In order, we are told, that the Germans may ‘feel they are beaten.’ And then? They will be good in future? They will admit they were wrong? They will lick the hand that chastised them? Who believes it? The more completely they are beaten, the more obstinately they will be set on recovery. When France was beaten to the dust in 1870, did she repent for having provoked the war? On the contrary, she gathered up her forces for revenge. And Germany will do the same.

Russell, Bertrand -- Interview by Woodrow Wyatt, BBC TV (1959)

Dave — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 19:35:54 +0000

In fact the state is primarily an organization for killing foreigners, that’s its main purpose. There are, of course, other things they do. They do a certain amount of educating, but, in the course of educating you, try very hard to make the young think it is a grand thing to kill foreigners.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Interview by Woodrow Wyatt, BBC TV (1959)

Collected in Bertrand Russell's BBC Interviews (1959) [UK] and Bertrand Russell Speaks His Mind (1960) [US].

Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. -- Hocus Pocus, ch. 24 (1990)

Dave — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 22:09:53 +0000

Speaking of atheism, I remember one time when Jack Patton and I went to a sermon in Vietnam delivered by the highest-ranking Chaplain in the Army. He was a General.
The sermon was based on what he claimed was a well-known fact, that there were no Atheists in foxholes.
I asked Jack what he thought of the sermon afterwards, and he said, “There’s a Chaplain who never visited the front.”

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922-2007) American novelist, journalist
Hocus Pocus, ch. 24 (1990)
(Source)

Mauldin, Bill -- Up Front (1945)

Dave — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 03:56:03 +0000

No normal man who has smelled and associated with death ever wants to see any more of it. In fact, the only men who are even going to want to bloody noses in a fist fight after this war will be those who want people to think they were tough combat men, when they weren’t. The surest way to become a pacifist is to join the infantry.

Bill Mauldin (1921-2003) American editorial cartoonist, writer
Up Front (1945)
(Source)

Augustine of Hippo -- City of God [De Civitate Dei], Book 4, ch. 3 (4.3) (AD 412-416) [tr. Dods (1871)]

Dave — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 23:30:56 +0000

What reason, what prudence, is there in wishing to glory in the greatness and extent of the empire, when you cannot point out the happiness of men who are always rolling, with dark fear and cruel lust, in warlike slaughters and in blood, which, whether shed in civil or foreign war, is still human blood; so that their joy may be compared to glass in its fragile splendor, of which one is horribly afraid lest it should be suddenly broken in pieces.

[Quae sit ratio, quae prudentia, cum hominum felicitatem non possis ostendere, semper in bellicis cladibus et in sanguine ciuili uel hostili, tamen humano cum tenebroso timore et cruenta cupiditate uersantium, ut uitrea laetitia comparetur fragiliter splendida, cui timeatur horribilius ne repente frangatur.]

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Christian church father, philosopher, saint [b. Aurelius Augustinus]
City of God [De Civitate Dei], Book 4, ch. 3 (4.3) (AD 412-416) [tr. Dods (1871)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

You cannot show such estates to be anyway happy, as are in continual wars, and constantly in terror, trouble, and guilt of shedding human blood, though it be their foes’; with what reason or wisdom any man doth wish to glory in the largeness of empire, since all their joy is but as a glass, bright and brittle, and evermore in fear and danger of breaking.
[tr. Healey (1610)]

Is it reasonable and wise to glory in the extent and greatness of the Empire when you can in no way prove that there is any real happiness in men perpetually living amid the horrors of war, perpetually wading in blood? Does it matter whether it is the blood of their fellow citizens or the blood of their enemies? It is still human blood, in men perpetually haunted by the gloomy spectre of fear and driven by murderous passions. The happiness arising from such conditions is a thing of glass, of mere glittering brittleness. One can never shake off the horrible dread that it may suddenly shiver into fragments.
[tr. Zema/Walsh (1950)]

You cannot show that men are happy who live always amid the disasters of war. It matters not whether the blood shed is that of fellow-citizens or of enemies; in any case it is the blood of men. The dark shadow of fear and the lust for blood are always with them. Any joy that they know is like the glitter of brittle glass, which inspires the frightful thought that it may suddenly be shattered.
[tr. Green (Loeb) (1963)]

Is it reasonable, is it sensible, to boast of the extent and grandeur of empire, when you cannot show that men lived in happiness, as they passed their lives amid the horrors of war, amid the shedding of men's blood -- whether the blood of enemies or fellow-citizens -- under the shadow of fear and amid the terror of ruthless ambition? The only joy to be attained had the fragile brilliance of glass, a joy outweighed by the fear that it may be shattered in a moment.
[tr. Bettenson (1972)]

Is it wise or prudent to wish to glory in the breadth and magnitude of an empire when you cannot show that the men whose empire it is are happy? For the Romans always lived in dark fear and cruel lust, surrounded by the disasters of war and the shedding of blood which, whether that of fellow citizens or enemies, was human nonetheless. The joy of such men may be compared to the fragile splendour of glass: they are horribly afraid lest it be suddenly shattered.
[tr. Dyson (1998)]

What reason or sense is there in wanting to boast of the size and expanse of an empire when you cannot show that its people are happy? Or why boast of an empire if its people always dwell in the midst of the disasters of war and the spilling of blood -- the blood of fellow-citizens or the blood of foreign enemies, but, in either case, human blood -- and always live under the dark shadow of fear and in the lust for blood? Any joy they have may be compared to the fragile brilliance of glass: there is always the terrible fear that it will suddenly be shattered.
[tr. Babcock (2012)]

Hardy, Thomas -- “The Man He Killed” (1902)

Dave — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 16:59:00 +0000

Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You’d treat if met where any bar is,
Or help to half-a-crown.

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) English novelist, poet
“The Man He Killed” (1902)
(Source)

Rogers, Will -- Column (1923-07-22), “Weekly Article: Rogers Praises Spirit of Tulsa” [No. 32]

Dave — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 16:29:42 +0000

I am only an ignorant cowpuncher, but there ain’t nobody on earth, I don’t care how smart they are, ever going to make me believe they will ever stop wars.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1923-07-22), “Weekly Article: Rogers Praises Spirit of Tulsa” [No. 32]
(Source)

Rogers, Will -- Column (1923-12-30), “Weekly Article: Will Rogers for the Bonus: Has Scheme to Raise Funds” [No. 55]

Dave — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 15:10:25 +0000

I think the best insurance in the world against another war is to take care of the boys who fought in the last one. YOU MAY WANT TO USE THEM AGAIN.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1923-12-30), “Weekly Article: Will Rogers for the Bonus: Has Scheme to Raise Funds” [No. 55]
(Source)

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- “The Bride of Abydos,” canto 2, st. 20 (1813)

Dave — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 15:50:44 +0000

Mark! where his carnage and his conquests cease!
He makes a solitude, and calls it — peace!

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
“The Bride of Abydos,” canto 2, st. 20 (1813)
(Source)

Adaptation from Tacitus' Agricola.

Fosdick, Harry Emerson -- “The Unknown Soldier,” Armistice Day sermon, Riverside Church, New York City (1933-11-12)

Dave — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 20:53:23 +0000

I renounce war. I renounce war because of what it does to our own men. I have watched them coming gassed from the front-line trenches. I have seen the long, long hospital trains filled with their mutilated bodies. I have heard the cries of the crazed and the prayers of those who wanted to die and could not, and I remember the maimed and ruined men for whom the war is not yet over. I renounce war because of what it compels us to do to our enemies, bombing their mothers in villages, starving their children by blockades, laughing over our coffee cups about every damnable thing we have been able to do to them. I renounce war for its consequences, for the lies it lives on and propagates, for the undying hatreds it arouses, for the dictatorships it puts in place of democracy, for the starvation that stalks after it. I renounce war, and never again, directly or indirectly, will I sanction or support another.

Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
“The Unknown Soldier,” Armistice Day sermon, Riverside Church, New York City (1933-11-12)
(Source)

Reprinted in The Secret of Victorious Living (1934).

Fosdick had been a vocal proponent of the US entering World War I, and served in France as a chaplain to the American troops. His experiences there led him to become a leading pacifist (but anti-isolationist) during the post-war years. He maintained that position into World War II and through the 1950s and 60s.

Johnson, Lyndon -- Speech (1966-01-12), “State of the Union,” Joint Session of Congress, Washington, D. C.

Dave — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 20:56:44 +0000

War is always the same. It is young men dying in the fullness of their promise. It is trying to kill a man that you do not know enough to hate. Therefore, to know war, is to know that there is still madness in the world.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
Speech (1966-01-12), “State of the Union,” Joint Session of Congress, Washington, D. C.
(Source)

Russell, Bertrand -- “If animals could talk,” New York American (1932-09-14)

Dave — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 15:11:46 +0000

There is no impersonal reason for regarding the interests of human beings as more important than those of animals. We can destroy animals more easily than they can destroy us; that is the only solid basis of our claim to superiority. We value art and science and literature, because these are things in which we excel. But whales might value spouting, and donkeys might maintain that a good bray is more exquisite than the music of Bach. We cannot prove them wrong except by the exercise of arbitrary power. All ethical systems, in the last analysis, depend upon weapons of war.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“If animals could talk,” New York American (1932-09-14)
(Source)

Von Clausewitz, Karl -- On War [Vom Kriege], Book 6, ch. 5 “Character of Strategic Defense [Charakter der strategischen Verteidigung],” (6.5) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]

Dave — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 14:41:40 +0000

The aggressor is always peace-loving (as Bonaparte always claimed to be); he would prefer to take over our country unopposed. To prevent his doing so one must be willing to make war and be prepared for it. In other words it is the weak, those likely to need defense, who should always be armed in order not to be overwhelmed. Thus decrees the art of war.

[Der Eroberer ist immer friedliebend (wie Bonaparte auch stets behauptet hat), er zöge ganz gern ruhig in unseren Staat ein; damit er dies aber nicht könne, darum müssen wir den Krieg wollen und also auch vorbereiten, d. h. mit anderen Worten: es sollen gerade die Schwachen, der Verteidigung Unterworfenen, immer gerüstet sein und nicht überfallen werden; so will es die Kriegskunst.]

Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) Prussian soldier, historian, military theorist
On War [Vom Kriege], Book 6, ch. 5 “Character of Strategic Defense [Charakter der strategischen Verteidigung],” (6.5) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translation:

A conqueror is always a lover of peace (as Buonaparte always asserted of himself); he would like to make his entry into our state unopposed; in order to prevent this, we must choose war, and therefore also make preparations, that is in other words, it is just the weak, or that side which must defend itself, which should be always armed in order not to be taken by surprise; so it is willed by the art of war.
[tr. Graham (1873)]

Von Clausewitz, Karl -- On War [Vom Kriege], Book 2, ch. 2 “On the Theory of War [Über die Theorie des Krieges],” § 17 (2.2.17) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]

Dave — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 15:10:26 +0000

Modern wars are seldom fought without hatred between nations; this serves as a more or less substitute for the hatred between individuals. Even when there is no natural hatred and no animosity to start with, the fighting itself will stir up hostile feelings: violence committed on superior orders will stir up the desire for revenge and retaliation against the perpetrator rather than against the powers that ordered the action. It is only human (or animal, if you like), but it is a fact.

[Der Nationalhaß, an dem es auch bei unseren Kriegen selten fehlt, vertritt bei dem einzelnen gegen den einzelnen mehr oder weniger stark die individuelle Feindschaft. Wo aber auch dieser fehlt und anfangs keine Erbitterung war, entzündet sich das feindselige Gefühl an dem Kampfe selbst, denn eine Gewaltsamkeit, die jemand auf höhere Weisung an uns verübt, wird uns zur Vergeltung und Rache gegen ihn entflammen, früher noch, ehe wir es gegen die höhere Gewalt sein werden, die ihm gebietet, so zu handeln. Dies ist menschlich oder auch tierisch, wenn man will, aber es ist so.]

Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) Prussian soldier, historian, military theorist
On War [Vom Kriege], Book 2, ch. 2 “On the Theory of War [Über die Theorie des Krieges],” § 17 (2.2.17) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translations:

National hatred, which is seldom wanting in our wars, is a substitute for personal hostility in the breast of individual opposed to individual. But where this also is wanting, and at first no animosity of feeling subsisted, a hostile feeling is kindled by the combat itself; for an act of violence which any one commits upon us by order of his superior, will excite in us a desire to retaliate and be revenged on him, sooner than on the superior power at whose command the act was done. This is human, or animal if we will; still it is so.
[tr. Graham (1873)]

National hatred, which is seldom lacking in our wars, becomes a more or less powerful substitute for personal hostility of individual against individual. But where this also is wanting, and, at first, no animosity existed, a hostile feeling is kindled by the combat itself. An act of violence which anyone commits upon us by order of his superior will excite in us the desire to retaliate and be revenged on him sooner than on the superior power at whose command the act was done. This is human -- animal, if you will -- but it is a fact.
[tr. Jolles (1943)]

Rogers, Will -- Column (1929-07-15), “Daily Telegram”

Dave — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 17:27:14 +0000

When the judgment day comes, civilization will have an alibi: “I never took a human life, I only sold the fellow the gun to take it with.”

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1929-07-15), “Daily Telegram”
(Source)

Von Clausewitz, Karl -- On War [Vom Kriege], Book 1, ch. 1 “What Is War? [Was ist der Krieg?],” § 3 (1.1.3) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]

Dave — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 21:59:24 +0000

Kind-hearted people might of course think there was some ingenious way to disarm or defeat the enemy without too much bloodshed, and might imagine this is the true goal of the art of war. Pleasant as it sounds, it is a fallacy that must be exposed: War is such a dangerous business that mistakes that come from kindness are the very worst.

[Nun könnten menschenfreundliche Seelen sich leicht denken, es gebe ein künstliches Entwaffnen oder Niederwerfen des Gegners, ohne zuviel Wunden zu verursachen, und das sei die wahre Tendenz der Kriegskunst. Wie gut sich das auch ausnimmt, so muß man doch diesen Irrtum zerstören, denn in so gefährlichen Dingen, wie der Krieg eins ist, sind die Irrtümer, welche aus Gutmütigkeit entstehen, gerade die schlimmsten.]

Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) Prussian soldier, historian, military theorist
On War [Vom Kriege], Book 1, ch. 1 “What Is War? [Was ist der Krieg?],” § 3 (1.1.3) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translations:

Now, philanthropists may easily imagine there is a skilful method of disarming and overcoming an enemy without causing great bloodshed, and that this is the proper tendency of the art of War. However plausible this may appear, still it is an error which must be extirpated; for in such dangerous things as war, the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are just the worst.
[tr. Graham (1873)]

Now philanthropic souls might easily imagine that there was an artistic way of disarming or overthrowing our adversary without too much bloodshed and that this was what the art of war should seek to achieve. However agreeable this may sound, it is a false idea which must be demolished. In affairs so dangerous as war, false ideas proceeding from kindness of heart are precisely the worst.
[tr. Jolles (1943)]

Von Clausewitz, Karl -- On War [Vom Kriege], Book 1, ch. 1 “What Is War? [Was ist der Krieg?],” § 3 (1.1.3) (1832) [tr. Graham (1873)]

Dave — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 15:08:18 +0000

War is an act of violence, which in its application knows no bounds

[Der Krieg ist ein Akt der Gewalt, und es gibt in der Anwendung derselben keine Grenzen.]

Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) Prussian soldier, historian, military theorist
On War [Vom Kriege], Book 1, ch. 1 “What Is War? [Was ist der Krieg?],” § 3 (1.1.3) (1832) [tr. Graham (1873)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translations:

War is an act of violence pushed to its utmost bounds.
[tr. Graham/Maude (1908)]

War is an act of force, and to the application of that force there is no limit.
[tr. Jolles (1943)]

War is an act of force, and there is no logical limit to the application of that force.
[tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]

Von Clausewitz, Karl -- On War [Vom Kriege], Book 1, ch. 1 “What Is War? [Was ist der Krieg?],” § 2 (1.1.2) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]

Dave — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 15:44:26 +0000

War is nothing but a duel on a larger scale. Countess duels go to make up a war, but a picture of it as a whole can be formed by imagining a pair of wrestlers. Each tries through physical force to compel the other to do his will; his immediate aim is to throw his opponent in order to make him incapable of further resistance. War is thus an act of force to compel the enemy to do our will.

[Der Krieg ist nichts als ein erweiterter Zweikampf. Wollen wir uns die Unzahl der einzelnen Zweikämpfe, aus denen er besteht, als Einheit denken, so tun wir besser, uns zwei Ringende vorzustellen. Jeder sucht den anderen durch physische Gewalt zur Erfüllung seines Willens zu zwingen; sein nächster Zweck ist, den Gegner niederzuwerfen und dadurch zu jedem ferneren Widerstand unfähig zu machen. Der Krieg ist also ein Akt der Gewalt, um den Gegner zur Erfüllung unseres Willens zu zwingen.]

Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) Prussian soldier, historian, military theorist
On War [Vom Kriege], Book 1, ch. 1 “What Is War? [Was ist der Krieg?],” § 2 (1.1.2) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translations:

War is nothing but a duel on an extensive scale. If we would conceive as a unit the countless number of duels which make up a war, we shall do so best by supposing to ourselves two wrestlers. Each strives by physical force to compel the other to submit to his will: his first object is to throw his adversary, and thus to render him incapable of further resistance. War therefore is an act of violence to compel our opponent to fulfil our will.
[tr. Graham (1873)]

War is nothing but a duel on a larger scale. If we would combine into one conception the countless separate duels of which it consists, we would do well to think of two wrestlers. Each tries by physical force to compel the other to do his will; his immediate object is to overthrow his adversary and thereby make him incapable of any further resistance. War is thus an act of force to compel our adversary to do our will.
[tr. Jolles (1943)]

Virgil -- The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 6, l. 851ff (6.851-53) [Anchises] (29-19 BC) [tr. Fagles (2006), l. 981ff]

Dave — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 21:41:40 +0000

But you, Roman, remember, rule with all your power
the peoples of the earth — these will be your arts:
to put your stamp on the works and ways of peace,
to spare the defeated, break the proud in war.

[Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento
(Hae tibi erunt artes), pacique imponere morem,
Parcere subjectis et debellare superbos.]

Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 6, l. 851ff (6.851-53) [Anchises] (29-19 BC) [tr. Fagles (2006), l. 981ff]
(Source)

Comparing the Roman "arts" to the arts at which other nations excel (metalwork, sculpture, oratory, astronomy).

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Be thou ambitious how to govern best,
In these arts, Roman, thou must be profest.
That we a peace well grounded may injoy,
Subjects to spare, and Rebels to destroy.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]

But, Rome, 'tis thine alone, with awful sway,
To rule mankind, and make the world obey,
Disposing peace and war by thy own majestic way;
To tame the proud, the fetter'd slave to free:
These are imperial arts, and worthy thee.
[tr. Dryden (1697)]

To rule the nations with imperial sway be thy care, O Romans: these shall be thy arts; to impose terms of peace, to spare the humbled, and crush the proud.
[tr. Davidson/Buckley (1854)]

But ye, my Romans, still control
⁠The nations far and wide:
Be this your genius -- to impose
The rule of peace on vanquished foes,
Show pity to the humbled soul,
⁠And crush the sons of pride
[tr. Conington (1866)]

But thou, O Roman, bend thy mind to rule
With strength thy people. This shall be thy art;
And to impose the terms and rules of peace;
To spare the vanquished, and subdue the proud.
[tr. Cranch (1872), l. 1069ff]

Be thy charge, O Roman, to rule the nations in thine empire; this shall be thine art, to lay down the law of peace, to be merciful to the conquered and beat the haughty down.
[tr. Mackail (1885)]

But thou, O Roman, look to it the folks of earth to sway;
For this shall be thine handicraft, peace on the world to lay,
To spare the weak, to wear the proud by constant weight of war.
[tr. Morris (1900), l. 850ff]

Thou, Roman, rule, and o'er the world proclaim
The ways of peace. Be these thy victories,
To spare the vanquished and the proud to tame.
These are imperial arts, and worthy of thy name.
[tr. Taylor (1907), st. 114, l. 1023ff.]

But thou, O Roman, learn with sovereign sway
To rule the nations. Thy great art shall be
To keep the world in lasting peace, to spare
humbled foe, and crush to earth the proud.
[tr. Williams (1910)]

Remember thou, O Roman, to rule the nations with thy sway -- these shall be thine arts -- to crown Peace with Law, to spare the humbled, and to tame in war the proud!
[tr. Fairclough (1916)]

Remember, Roman,
To rule the people under law, to establish
The way of peace, to battle down the haughty,
To spare the meek. Our fine arts, these, forever.
[tr. Humphries (1951)]

But, Romans, never forget that government is your medium!
Be this your art: -- to practise men in the habit of peace,
Generosity to the conquered, and firmness against aggressors.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1952)]

But yours will be the rulership of nations,
remember, Roman, these will be your arts:
to teach the ways of peace to those you conquer,
to spare defeated peoples, tame the proud.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1971), l. 1134ff]

Roman, remember by your strength to rule
Earth's peoples -- for your arts are to be these:
To pacify, to impose the rule of law,
To spare the conquered, battle down the proud.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1981), l. 1151ff]

Your task, Roman, and do not forget it, will be to govern the peoples of the world in your empire. These will be your arts -- and to impose a settle pattern upon peace, to pardon the defeated and war down the proud.
[tr. West (1990)]

Remember, Roman, it is for you to rule the nations with your power,
(that will be your skill) to crown peace with law,
to spare the conquered, and subdue the proud.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

Your mission, Roman, is to rule the world.
These will be your arts: to establish peace,
To spare the humbled, and to conquer the proud.
[tr. Lombardo (2005), l. 1012ff]

Roman, remember that your arts are to rule
The nations with your empire, to enforce the custom of peace,
To spare the conquered and to subjugate the proud.
[tr. @sentantiq (2018)]

You, Roman, remember your own arts: to rule the world with law, impose your ways on peace, grant the conquered clemency, and crush the proud in war.
[tr. Bartsch (2021)]

See also Bob Dylan, "Lonesome Day Blues", Love and Theft (2001):

I'm gonna spare the defeated --
I'm gonna speak to the crowd.
I'm gonna spare the defeated, boys,
I'm going to speak to the crowd.
I am goin' to teach peace to the conquered,
I'm gonna tame the proud.

Shakespeare, William -- Coriolanus, Act 4, sc. 5, l. 244ff (4.5.244-249) (c. 1608)

Dave — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 18:28:37 +0000

FIRST SERVINGMAN: Let me have war, say I. It exceeds peace as far as day does night. It’s sprightly walking, audible, and full of vent. Peace is a very apoplexy, lethargy; mulled, deaf, sleepy, insensible; a getter of more bastard children than war’s a destroyer of men.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Coriolanus, Act 4, sc. 5, l. 244ff (4.5.244-249) (c. 1608)
(Source)

Einstein, Albert -- Letter to Heinrich Zangger (6 Dec 1917), in Collected Papers, Vol. 8, # 403 (1987) [tr. Hentschel]

Dave — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 15:25:23 +0000

All of our exalted technological progress, civilization for that matter, is comparable to an axe in the hand of a pathological criminal.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
Letter to Heinrich Zangger (6 Dec 1917), in Collected Papers, Vol. 8, # 403 (1987) [tr. Hentschel]
(Source)

Von Clausewitz, Karl -- On War [Vom Kriege], Book 1, ch. 1 “What Is War? [Was ist der Krieg?],” § 3 (1.1.3) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]

Dave — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 17:17:20 +0000

The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing practical to alter or deflect the impulse to destroy the enemy, which is central to the very idea of war.

[Die Erfindung des Pulvers, die immer weiter gehende Ausbildung des Feuergewehrs zeigen schon hinreichend, dase die in dem Begriff des Krieges liegende Tendenz zur Vernichtung des Gegners auch faktisch durch die zunehmende Bildung keineswegs gestört oder abgelenkt worden ist.]

The invention of gunpowder, the constant progress of improvements in the construction of firearms are sufficient proofs that the tendency to destroy the adversary which lies at the bottom of the conception of war, is in no way changed or modified through the progress of civilisation.
[tr. Graham (1873)]

The invention of gunpowder and the advances continually being made in the development of firearms, in themselves show clearly enough that the demand for the destruction of the enemy, inherent in the theoretical conception of war, has been in no way actually weakened or diverted by the advance of civilization
[tr. Jolles (1943)]

Shakespeare, William -- Coriolanus, Act 1, sc. 3, l. 21ff. (1.3.21) (c. 1608)

Dave — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 16:41:57 +0000

VOLUMNIA: Hear me profess sincerely: had I a dozen sons, each in my love alike and none less dear than thine and my good Martius, I had rather had eleven die nobly for their country than one voluptuously surfeit out of action.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Coriolanus, Act 1, sc. 3, l. 21ff. (1.3.21) (c. 1608)
(Source)

"Voluptuously surfeit out of action" = to die indulgent, idle, and lazy

Von Clausewitz, Karl -- On War [Vom Kriege], Book 1, ch. 1 “What Is War? [Was ist der Krieg?],” § 22 (1.1.22) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]

Dave — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 17:02:45 +0000

The art of war deals with living and with moral forces. Consequently, it cannot attain the absolute, or certainty; it must always leave a margin for uncertainty, in the greatest things as well as in the smallest. With uncertainty in one scale, courage and self-confidence should be thrown into the other to correct the balance. The greater they are, the greater the margin that can be left for accidents.

[Die Kriegskunst hat es mit lebendigen und mit moralischen Kräften zu thun; daraus folgt, dass sie nirgends das Absolute und Gewisse erreichen kann; es bleibt also überall dem Ungefähr ein Spielraum, und zwar eben so gross bei dem Grössten, wie bei dem Keinsten. Wie dieses Ungefähr auf dereinen Seite steht, muss Muth und Selbstvertrauen auf die andere treten und die Lücke ausfüllen. So gross, wie diese sind, so gross darf der Spielraum für jenes werden.]

Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) Prussian soldier, historian, military theorist
On War [Vom Kriege], Book 1, ch. 1 “What Is War? [Was ist der Krieg?],” § 22 (1.1.22) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translations:

The art of war has to deal with living and with moral forces; the consequence of which is that it can never attain the absolute and positive. There is therefore everywhere a margin for the accidental; and just as much inthe greatest things as in the smallest. As there is room for this accidental on the one hand, so on the other there must be courage and self-reliance in proportion to the room left. If these qualities are forthcoming in a high degree, the margin left may likewise be great.
[tr. Graham (1873)]

The art of war has to do with living and with moral forces; from this it follows that it can nowhere attain the absolute and certain; there remains always a margin for the accidental just as much with the greatest things as with the smallest. As on the one side stands this accidental element, so on the other courage and self-confidence must step forward and fill up the gap. The greater the courage and self-confidence, the larger the margin that may be left for the accidental.
[tr. Jolles (1943)]

Porter, Katherine Anne -- Ship of Fools, Part 2 [Hansen] (1962)

Dave — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 19:11:11 +0000

Civilization, let me tell you what it is. First the soldier, then the merchant, then the priest, then the lawyer. The merchant hires the soldier and priest to conquer the country for him. First the soldier, he is a murderer; then the priest, he is a liar; then the merchant, he is a thief; and they all bring in the lawyer to make their laws and defend their deeds, and there you have your civilization!

Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980) American journalist, essayist, author, political activist [b. Callie Russell Porter]
Ship of Fools, Part 2 [Hansen] (1962)
(Source)

Virgil -- The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 6, l. 86ff (6.86-87) [The Sybil] (29-19 BC) [tr. Fagles (2006)]

Dave — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 16:44:26 +0000

Wars, horrendous wars,
and the Tiber foaming with tides of blood, I see it all!

[Bella, horrida bella,
Et Thybrim multo spumantem sanguine cerno.]

Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 6, l. 86ff (6.86-87) [The Sybil] (29-19 BC) [tr. Fagles (2006)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Wars, horrid wars I see,
And Tyber swell'd with blood.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]

Wars, horrid wars, I view -- a field of blood,
And Tiber rolling with a purple flood.
[tr. Dryden (1697)]

Wars, horrid wars, I foresee, and Tiber foaming with a deluge of blood.
[tr. Davidson/Buckley (1854)]

War, dreadful war, and Tiber flood
I see incarnadined with blood.
[tr. Conington (1866)]

Dreadful war,
And Tiber frothed with blood, I see from far.
[tr. Cranch (1872), ll. 111-12]

Wars, grim wars I discern, and Tiber afoam with streams of blood.
[tr. Mackail (1885)]

Lo, war, war, dreadful war!
And Tiber bearing plenteous blood upon his foaming back.
[tr. Morris (1900)]

Woes in store,
Wars, savage wars, I see, and Tiber foam with gore.
[tr. Taylor (1907), st. 13, ll. 116-17]

War, red war!
And Tiber stained with bloody foam I see.
[tr. Williams (1910)]

Wars, grim wars I see, and Tiber foaming with streams of blood.
[tr. Fairclough (1916)]

War, I see,
Terrible war, and the river Tiber foaming
With streams of blood.
[tr. Humphries (1951)]

Wars, dreadful wars
I see, and Tiber foaming with torrents of human blood.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1952)]

I see wars, horrid wars, the Tiber foaming
with much blood.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1971), ll. 122-23]

Wars, vicious wars
I see ahead, and Tiber foaming blood.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1981), ll. 132-33]

I see wars, deadly wars, I see the Thybris foaming with torrents of blood.
[tr. West (1990)]

War, fierce war,
I see: and the Tiber foaming with much blood.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

War, I see horrible war, and the Tiber
Foaming with blood.
[tr. Lombardo (2005)]

I see brutal wars and bloody torrents frothing in the Tiber.
[tr. Bartsch (2021)]

Asquith, Margot -- Autobiography, Vol. 2, 3 Aug 1914 (1922)

Dave — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 19:23:42 +0000

From the happy expression on their faces you might have supposed that they welcomed the war. I have met with men who loved stamps, and stones, and snakes, but I could not imagine any man loving war.

Margot Asquith (1864-1945) British socialite, author, wit [Emma Margaret Asquith, Countess Oxford and Asquith; Margot Oxford; née Tennant]
Autobiography, Vol. 2, 3 Aug 1914 (1922)
(Source)

Of the cheering crowds outside 10 Downing Street on 3 Aug 1914, the night before the British Government (with her husband as Prime Minister) declared war against Germany.

Virgil -- The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 4, l. 622ff (4.622-629) [Dido] (29-19 BC) [tr. Fagles (2006), l. 775ff]

Dave — Wed, 17 Aug 2022 19:48:37 +0000

And you, my Tyrians,
harry with hatred all his line, his race to come:
make that offering to my ashes, send it down below.
No love between our peoples, ever, no pacts of peace!
Come rising up from my bones, you avenger still unknown,
to stalk those Trojan settlers, hunt with fire and iron,
now or in time to come, whenever the power is yours.
Shore clash with shore, sea against sea, and sword
against sword — this is my curse — war between all
our peoples, all their children, endless war!

[Tum vos, o Tyrii, stirpem et genus omne futurum
exercete odiis, cinerique haec mittite nostro
munera. Nullus amor populis, nec foedera sunto.
Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor,
qui face Dardanios ferroque sequare colonos,
nunc, olim, quocumque dabunt se tempore vires.
Litora litoribus contraria, fluctibus undas
imprecor, arma armis; pugnent ipsique nepotesque.]

Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 4, l. 622ff (4.622-629) [Dido] (29-19 BC) [tr. Fagles (2006), l. 775ff]
(Source)

Dido's deathbed curse, "foretelling" the Punic Wars between her Carthage and Aeneas' descendants in Rome.

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

O Tyrians, strive this Nation to supplant
With restless wars this to my ashes grant:
Never joyn leagues, contract no amities,
And from our bones let some revenger rise,
Who Trojans may pursue with fire, and sword,
Ah, may when ever time shall strength afford,
Shores shores oppose, seas seas, our stocks debate
With arms gainst arms maintaine, I imprecate.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]

And you, my Tyrians, ev'ry curse fulfil.
Perpetual hate and mortal wars proclaim,
Against the prince, the people, and the name.
These grateful off'rings on my grave bestow;
Nor league, nor love, the hostile nations know!
Now, and from hence, in ev'ry future age,
When rage excites your arms, and strength supplies the rage
Rise some avenger of our Libyan blood,
With fire and sword pursue the perjur'd brood;
Our arms, our seas, our shores, oppos'd to theirs;
And the same hate descend on all our heirs!
[tr. Dryden (1697)]

And, Tyrians, you through time to come
His seed with deathless hatred chase:
Be that your gift to Dido's tomb:
No love, no league 'twixt race and race.
Rise from my ashes, scourge of crime,
Born to pursue the Dardan horde
To-day, to-morrow, through all time,
Oft as our hands can wield the sword:
Fight shore with shore, fight sea with sea,
Fight all that are or e'er shall be!
[tr. Conington (1866)]

And ye, O Tyrians, follow with your hate
His seed, and all his future race! Be this
Your offering on my tomb! No love, no league
Between you ! Oh, may some avenger rise
From out my ashes, who with fire and sword
Shall chase these Dardan settlers, now, and in
The coming time, wherever strength is given;
Shores with shores fighting, waves with waves, and
arms With arms, -- they and their last posterity
[tr. Cranch (1872)]

And you, O Tyrians, hunt his seed with your hatred for all ages to come; send this guerdon to our ashes. Let no kindness nor truce be between the nations. Arise out of our dust, O unnamed avenger, to pursue the Dardanian settlement with firebrand and steel. Now, then, whensoever strength shall be given, I invoke the enmity of shore to shore, wave to water, sword to sword; let their battles go down to their children's children.
[tr. Mackail (1885)]

And ye, O Tyrians, 'gainst his race that is, and is to be,
Feed full your hate! When I am dead send down this gift to me:
No love betwixt the peoples twain, no troth for anything!
And thou, Avenger of my wrongs, from my dead bones outspring,
To bear the fire and the sword o'er Dardan-peopled earth
Now or hereafter; whensoe'er the day brings might to birth.
I pray the shore against the shore, the sea against the sea,
The sword 'gainst sword -- fight ye that are, and ye that are to be!
[tr. Morris (1900)]

Them and their children's children evermore
Ye Tyrians, with immortal hate outwear.
This gift -- 'twill please me best -- for Dido's shade prepare.
This heritage be yours; no truce nor trust
'Twixt theirs and ours, no union or accord
Arise, unknown Avenger from our dust;
With fire and steel upon the Dardan horde
Mete out the measure of their crimes' reward.
To-day, to-morrow, for eternity
Fight, oft as ye are able -- sword with sword,
Shore with opposing shore, and sea with sea;
Fight, Tyrians, all that are, and all that e'er shall be!
[tr. Taylor (1907)], st. 81-82, l. 720ff]

And -- O ye Tyrians! I
sting with your hatred all his seed and tribe
forevermore. This is the offering
my ashes ask. Betwixt our nations twain,
No love! No truce or amity! Arise,
Out of my dust, unknown Avenger, rise!
To harry and lay waste with sword and flame
those Dardan settlers, and to vex them sore,
to-day, to-morrow, and as long as power
is thine to use! My dying curse arrays
shore against shore and the opposing seas
in shock of arms with arms. May living foes
pass down from sire to son insatiate war
[tr. Williams (1910)]

Then do ye, O Tyrians, pursue with hate his whole stock and the race to come, and to my dust offer this tribute! Let no love nor league be between the nations. Arise from my ashes, unknown avenger! to chase with fire and sword the Dardan settlers, to-day, hereafter, whenever strength be given! May shore with shore clash, I pray, waters with waters, arms with arms; may they have war, they and their children's children!
[tr. Fairclough (1916)]

And you, O Tyrians, hate, and hate forever
The Trojan stock. Offer my dust this homage.
No love, no peace, between these nations, ever!
Rise from my bones, O great unknown avenger,
Hunt them with fire and sword, the Dardan settlers,
Now, then, here, there, wherever strength is given.
Shore against shore, wave against wave, and war,
War after war, for all the generations.
[tr. Humphries (1951)]

Let you, my Tyrians, sharpen your hatred upon his children
And all their seed for ever: send this as a present to
My ghost. Between my people and his, no love, no alliance!
Rise up from my dead bones, avenger! Rise up, one
To hound the Trojan settlers with fire and steel remorselessly,
Now, some day, whenever the strength for it shall be granted!
Shore to shore, sea to sea, weapon to weapon opposed --
I call down a feud between them and us to the last generation!
[tr. Day-Lewis (1952)]

Then, Tyrians, hunt down
with hatred all his sons and race to come;
send this as offering unto my ashes.
Do not let love or treaty tie our peoples.
May an avenger rise up from my bones,
one who will track with firebrand and sword
the Dardan settlers, now and in the future,
at any time that ways present themselves.
I call your shores to war against their shores,
your waves against their waves, arms with their arms.
Let them and their sons' sons learn what is war.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1971)]

Then, O my Tyrians, besiege with hate
His progeny and all his race to come:
Make this your offering to my dust. No love,
No pact must be between our peoples; No,
But rise up from my bones, avenging spirit!
Harry with fire and sword the Dardan countrymen
Now, or hereafter, at whatever time
The strength will be afforded. Coast with coast
In conflict, I implore, and sea with sea,
And arms with arms: may they contend in war,
Themselves and all the children of their children!
[tr. Fitzgerald (1981), l. 865ff]

As for you, my Tyrians, you must pursue with hatred the whole line of his descendants in time to come. Make that your offering to my shade. Let there be no love between our peoples and no treaties. Arise from my dead bones, O my unknown avenger, and harry the race of Dardanus with fire and sword wherever they may settle, now and in the future, whenever our strength allows it. I pray that we may stand opposed, shore against shore, sea against sea, and sword against sword. Let there be war between the nations and between their sons forever.
[tr. West (1990)]

Then, O Tyrians, pursue my hatred against his whole line
and the race to come, and offer it as a tribute to my ashes.
Let there be no love or treaties between our peoples.
Rise, some unknown avenger, from my dust, who will pursue
the Trojan colonists with fire and sword, now, or in time
to come, whenever the strength is granted him.
I pray that shore be opposed to shore, water to wave,
weapon to weapon: let them fight, them and their descendants.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

And you, my Tyrians, must persecute his line
Throughout the generations -- this your tribute
To Dido's ashes. May treaties never unite
These nations, may no love ever be lost between them
And from my bones may some avenger rise up
To harry the Trojans with fire and sword,
Now and whenever we have the power.
May coast oppose coast, waves batter waves,
Arms clash with arms, may they be ever at war,
They themselves and their children forever.
[tr. Lombardo (2005)]

Tyrians, you must torment his sons
and all his future race. Make this offering to my ashes.
Let there be no love or treaties between us.
Rise from my bones, unknown avenger,
hunt the Dardan colonists with flames and swords,
now or any times there's strength to strike!
My curse is this: our lands, our seas, our swords will clash.
The Trojans will fight wars for generations.
[tr. Bartsch (2021)]

Crane, Stephen -- The Red Badge of Courage, ch. 9 (1895)

Dave — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 20:47:02 +0000

He wishes that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage.

Stephen Crane (1871-1900) American writer, poet
The Red Badge of Courage, ch. 9 (1895)
(Source)

Tolkien, J.R.R. -- The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 3: The Return of the King, Book 6, ch. 4 “The Field of Cormallen” (1955)

Dave — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 15:20:28 +0000

And the host laughed and wept, and in the midst of their merriment and tears the clear voice of the minstrel rose like silver and gold, and all men were hushed. And he sang to them, now in the Elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessedness.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 3: The Return of the King, Book 6, ch. 4 “The Field of Cormallen” (1955)
(Source)

Von Clausewitz, Karl -- On War [Vom Kriege], Book 6, ch. 2 “The Relations of the Offensive and Defensive to Each Other in Tactics [Wie verhalten sich Angriff und Verteidigung in der Taktik zueinander]” (6.2) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]

Dave — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 22:04:26 +0000

Surprise becomes effective when we suddenly face the enemy at one point with far more troops than he expected. This type of numerical superiority is quite distinct from numerical superiority in general: it is the most powerful medium in the art of war.

[Die Überraschung zeigt sich dadurch wirksam, dass man dem Feinde auf einem Punkt viel mehr Truppen entgegen stellt, als er erwartete. Diese Überlegenheit der Zahl ist von der allgemeinen sehr verschieden, sie ist das wichtigste Agens der Kriegskunst.]

Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) Prussian soldier, historian, military theorist
On War [Vom Kriege], Book 6, ch. 2 “The Relations of the Offensive and Defensive to Each Other in Tactics [Wie verhalten sich Angriff und Verteidigung in der Taktik zueinander]” (6.2) (1832) [tr. Howard & Paret (1976)]
(Source)

(Source(German)). Alternate translations:

The surprise produces an effect by opposing to the enemy a great many more troops than he expected at some particular point. The superiority in numbers in this case is very different to a general superiority of numbers; it is the most powerful agent in the art of war.
[tr. Graham (1873)]

The suprise produces an effect by opposing to the enemy at some particular point a great many more troops than he expected. The superiority in numbres in this case is very different from the general superiority of numbers; it is the most powerful agent in the art of war.
[tr. Jolles (1943)]

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- De Officiis [On Duties; On Moral Duty; The Offices], Book 1, ch. 23 (1.23) / sec. 80 (44 BC) [tr. McCartney (1798)]

Dave — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 17:25:11 +0000

War should be made with no other view than the attainment of peace.

[Bellum autem ita suscipiatur, ut nihil aliud nisi pax quaesita videatur.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
De Officiis [On Duties; On Moral Duty; The Offices], Book 1, ch. 23 (1.23) / sec. 80 (44 BC) [tr. McCartney (1798)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

And as for war, it should never be undertaken with any other aim, but only that of obtaining an honourable peace.
[tr. Cockman (1699)]

Now in engaging in war we ought to make it appear that we have no other view but peace.
[tr. Edmonds (1865)]

But war should be undertaken in such a way that it may seem nothing else than a quest of peace.
[tr. Peabody (1883)]

We should only take up arms when it is evident that peace is the one object we pursue.
[tr. Gardiner (1899)]

We should so enter upon war as to show that our only desire is peace.
[ed. Harbottle (1906)]

War, however, should be undertaken in such a way as to make it evident that it has no other object than to secure peace.
[tr. Miller (1913)]

You should start a war, moreover, in such a way that you clearly have no other object than peace.
[tr. Edinger (1974)]

Mitchell, Margaret -- Gone with the Wind, ch. 31 [Ashley] (1936)

Dave — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 19:20:57 +0000

Fighting is like champagne. It goes to the heads of cowards as quickly as of heroes. Any fool can be brave on a battlefield when it’s be brave or else be killed.

Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949) American author and journalist.
Gone with the Wind, ch. 31 [Ashley] (1936)
(Source)

Serling, Rod -- Commencement Address, Ithaca College, New York (13 May 1972)

Dave — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 17:00:34 +0000

So when, in future times, men ask you to prove patriotism and loyalty and affection for your native land — remember that these things are not always equated with a willingness to die or to kill.

Rod Serling (1924-1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
Commencement Address, Ithaca College, New York (13 May 1972)
(Source)

Serling, Rod -- Commencement Address, Ithaca College, New York (13 May 1972)

Dave — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 15:53:41 +0000

Remember that you can’t necessarily sanctify a cause by virtue of the fact that men die for it. A death in a worthless or even questionable cause is a pointless, meaningless, tragically premature death.

Rod Serling (1924-1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
Commencement Address, Ithaca College, New York (13 May 1972)
(Source)

Todorov, Tzvetan -- The New World Disorder: Reflections of a European, ch. 3 (2005)

Dave — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 18:56:32 +0000

American society has always exercised a stronger pressure on individual behavior than Western European societies; but in time of war this pressure is notched a few degrees, and starts to become quite alarming.

Tzvetan Todorov (1939-2017) Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, literary critic, sociologist
The New World Disorder: Reflections of a European, ch. 3 (2005)
(Source)

Kipling, Rudyard -- “The Sons of the Suburbs” (1916)

Dave — Mon, 30 May 2022 21:56:24 +0000

There are things in the breast of mankind which are best
In darkness and secrecy hid;
For you never can tell, when you’ve opened a hell,
How soon you can put back the lid.

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) English writer
“The Sons of the Suburbs” (1916)
(Source)

On bloodthirstiness in war by previously peaceful people.

Originally written for the Christmas 1916 issue of Blighty, a magazine for servicemen. It was rejected, eventually to be published in the Sunday Pictorial (19 Jan 1936). It was never included by Kipling in any of his collections.

Holland, Barbara -- Wasn’t the Grass Greener?, “War” (1999)

Dave — Mon, 30 May 2022 15:23:36 +0000

Smiting enemies has always been so admired that, unlike medicine or archaeology, it entitled its successful practitioners to become kings, emperors, and presidents of the United States like Washington, Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Taylor, Grant, and Eisenhower.

Barbara Holland (1933-2010) American author
Wasn’t the Grass Greener?, “War” (1999)
(Source)

Holland, Barbara -- “War,” Wasn’t the Grass Greener? (1999)

Dave — Mon, 16 May 2022 16:10:12 +0000

If a quick glance back over world history shows us anything, it shows us that war was one of our most universal joys from our earliest beginnings, savored at every possible opportunity and even some quite incomprehensible ones, like the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, whomever he may have been.

Barbara Holland (1933-2010) American author
“War,” Wasn’t the Grass Greener? (1999)
(Source)

First appeared in Smithsonian (Jun 1992).

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

Dave — Tue, 03 May 2022 14:32:17 +0000

Too many wars are fought almost as if by rote. Too many wars are fought out of sloganry, out of battle hymns, out of aged, musty appeals to patriotism that went out with knighthood and moats. Love your country because it is eminently worthy of your affection. Respect it because it deserves your respect. Be loyal to it because it cannot survive without your loyalty. But do not accept the shedding of blood as a natural function or a prescribed way of history, even if history points this up by its repetition. That men die for causes does not necessarily sanctify that cause. And that men are maimed and torn to pieces every fifteen and twenty years does not immortalize or deify the act of war.

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

Virgil -- The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 2, l. 368ff (2.368-369) (29-19 BC) [tr. Fagles (2006), ll. 461-462]

Dave — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 17:43:52 +0000

Everywhere, wrenching grief, everywhere, terror
and a thousand shapes of death.

[Crudelis ubique
Luctus, ubique pavor, et plurima mortis imago.]

Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 2, l. 368ff (2.368-369) (29-19 BC) [tr. Fagles (2006), ll. 461-462]
(Source)

On the fighting in the streets of Troy. (Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

In all parts cruell grief, in all parts feare,
And various shapes of death was every where.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]

All parts resound with tumults, plaints, and fears;
And grisly Death in sundry shapes appears.
[tr. Dryden (1697)]

Every where is cruel sorrow, every where terror and death in thousand shapes.
[tr. Davidson/Buckley (1854)]

Dire agonies, wild terrors swarm,
And Death glares grim in many a form.
[tr. Conington (1866)]

And everywhere are sounds of bitter grief,
And terror everywhere, and shapes of death.
[tr. Cranch (1872), l. 506-507]

Everywhere is cruel agony, everywhere terror, and the sight of death at every turn.
[tr. Mackail (1885)]

Grim grief on every side,
And fear on every side there is, and many-faced is death.
[tr. Morris (1900)]

All around
Wailings, and wild affright and shapes of death abound.
[tr. Taylor (1907), st. 49, l. 440-41]

Anguish and woe
were everywhere; pale terrors ranged abroad,
and multitudinous death met every eye.
[tr. Williams (1910)]

Everywhere sorrow,
Everywhere panic, everywhere the image
Of death, made manifold.
[tr. Humphries (1951)]

All over the town you saw
Heart-rending agony, panic, and every shape of death.
[tr. Day Lewis (1952)]

And everywhere
are fear, harsh grief, and many shapes of slaughter.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1971), l. 497-98]

Grief everywhere,
Everywhere terror, and all shapes of death.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1981)]

Bitter grief was everywhere. Everywhere there was fear, and death in many forms.
[tr. West (1990)]

Cruel mourning is everywhere,
everywhere there is panic, and many a form of death.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

Raw fear
Was everywhere, grief was everywhere,
Everywhere the many masks of death.
[tr. Lombardo (2005)]

All around were bitter grief and fear, and different scenes of death.
[tr. Bartsch (2021)]

Aristotle -- Nicomachean Ethics [Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια], Book 10, ch. 7 (10.7) / 1177b.4 (c. 325 BC) [tr. Peters (1893), 10.7.6]

Dave — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 19:38:13 +0000

Happiness is thought to imply leisure; for we toil in order that we may have leisure, as we make war in order that we may enjoy peace.

[δοκεῖ τε ἡ εὐδαιμονία ἐν τῇ σχολῇ εἶναι, ἀσχολούμεθα γὰρ ἵνα σχολάζωμεν καὶ πολεμοῦμεν ἵν᾽ εἰρήνην ἄγωμεν.]

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Nicomachean Ethics [Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια], Book 10, ch. 7 (10.7) / 1177b.4 (c. 325 BC) [tr. Peters (1893), 10.7.6]
(Source)

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

Happiness is thought to stand in perfect rest; for we toil that we may rest, and war that we may be at peace.
[tr. Chase (1847), ch. 6]

It would seem that happiness is the very antithesis of a busy life, in that it is compatible with perfect leisures. And it is with such leisure in view that a busy life is always led, exactly as war is only waged for the sake of ultimate peace.
[tr. Williams (1869)]

The end of labor is to gain leisure.
[in Ballou, Treasury of Thought (1872)]

Happiness is thought to depend on leisure; for we are busy that we may have leisure, and make war that we may live in peace.
[tr. Ross (1908)]

Happiness is thought to involve leisure; for we do business in order that we may have leisure, and carry on war in order that we may have peace.
[tr. Rackham (1934)]

Happiness seems to reside in leisure, since we do unleisured things in order to be at leisure, and wage war in order to live in peace.
[tr. Reeve (1948)]

Happiness is thought to depend on leisure; for we toil for the sake of leisurely activity, and we are at war for the sake of peaceful activity.
[tr. Apostle (1975)]

Happiness seems to depend on leisure, because we work to have leisure, and wage war to live in peace.
[tr. Crisp (2000)]

[Because], happiness seems to reside in leisure, we labor [sacrifice leisure] so that we may have leisure.
[tr. @sentantiq (2018)]

Serling, Rod -- Letter to Alden Schwimmer (1965)

Dave — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 16:25:35 +0000

Dear Ald,

Been an odd day … It’s all quite incredible — not that twenty years have gone by nor even that I survived … it is just to walk over the same ground after so much has happened and to remember it all with such infinite clarity.

Last week, I went back to a little village outside of Manila called Paranaque. My last visit there was February 4, 1945, and I spent one day and one night getting shelled. So I took the nostalgic walk one early morning and drank it all in and began to feel sad because nobody came up to me as they did twenty years ago and grin and say, “Victory, Joe!” So three hours later I went through a tiny alley and wound up on a dirty beach overlooking the ocean, and this little grimy 8-year-old kid comes up to me and says, “What are you looking for, Joe?” And I cup this dirty little brown face in my hand and I answer, “My youth, Joe.”

Hey, Ald! You can’t go back. At least you can’t go back and experience. You return as a tourist just to observe. Like visiting a cemetery. Nobody’s around to talk to you and reminisce, even though deep in your gut you have this urge to tap some ghost on a shoulder and say, “Hey, buddy, remember that afternoon ….”

Rod Serling (1924-1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
Letter to Alden Schwimmer (1965)

In Anne Serling, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling, ch. 7 (2013).

Commager, Henry Steele -- Essay (1953-02-21), “Is Freedom Really Necessary?” Saturday Review

Dave — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 15:26:25 +0000

A nation that silences or intimidates original minds is left only with unoriginal minds and cannot hope to hold its own in the competition of peace or of war.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1953-02-21), “Is Freedom Really Necessary?” Saturday Review
(Source)

Based on a discussion by the American Round Table, New York City (1951). Collected as "Free Enterprise in Ideas," Freedom, Loyalty and Dissent (1954).

Serling, Rod -- Comment, Antioch College (c. 1965)

Dave — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 16:17:00 +0000

Shrapnel wounds and mangled, bullet ridden bodies are not the only casualties of war. There are casualties of the mind. Every war produces a backwash, a residue of pain and grief.

Rod Serling (1924-1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
Comment, Antioch College (c. 1965)
(Source)

As quoted in Anne Serling, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling (2013).

Chirac, Jacques -- Conversation with Silvio Berlusconi (2003)

Dave — Tue, 28 Dec 2021 20:21:17 +0000

One does not export democracy in an armored vehicle.

[On n’exporte pas la démocratie dans un fourgon blindé.]

Jacques Chirac (1932-2019) French politician, President of France (1995-2007)
Conversation with Silvio Berlusconi (2003)

Concerning the invasion of Iraq. Attributed by Jean-Pierre Raffarin on 20 O'clock News, TF1 (11 Mar 2007).

Serling, Rod -- “First Squad, First Platoon,” Dedication (c. 1947)

Dave — Mon, 27 Dec 2021 20:17:59 +0000

It seems war stories aren’t very well received at this point. I’m told they’re outdated, untimely and as might be expected — make some unpleasant reading. And, as you have no doubt already perceived, human beings don’t like to remember unpleasant things. They gird themselves with the armor of wishful thinking, protect themselves with a shield of impenetrable optimism, and, with a few exceptions, seem to accomplish their “forgetting” quite admirably. But you, my children, I don’t want you to be among those who choose to forget. I want you to read my stories and a lot of others like them. I want you to fill your heads with Remarque and Tolstoy and Ernie Pyle. I want you to know what shrapnel, and “88’s” and mortar shells and mustard gas mean. I want you to feel, no matter how vicariously, a semblance of the feeling of a torn limb, a burnt patch of flesh, the crippling, numbing sensation of fear, the hopeless emptiness of fatigue. All these things are complementary to the province of War and they should be taught and demonstrated in classrooms along with the more heroic aspects of uniforms, and flags, and honor and patriotism.

Rod Serling (1924-1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
“First Squad, First Platoon,” Dedication (c. 1947)
(Source)

Dedication to his unborn children, in one of his first (unpublished) works of fiction, while at Antioch College under the GI Bill. In Anne Serling, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling (2013)

Orwell, George -- Nineteen Eighty-Four, ch. 3 (1949)

Dave — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 17:55:18 +0000

At the moment, for example, in 1984 (if it was 1984), Oceania was at war with Eurasia and in alliance with Eastasia. In no public or private utterance was it ever admitted that the three powers had at any time been grouped along different lines. Actually, as Winston well knew, it was only four years since Oceania had been at war with Eastasia and in alliance with Eurasia. But that was merely a piece of furtive knowledge which he happened to possess because his memory was not satisfactorily under control. Officially, the change of partners had never happened. Oceania was at war with Eurasia: therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia. The enemy of the moment always represented absolute evil, and it followed that any past or future agreement with him was impossible.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Nineteen Eighty-Four, ch. 3 (1949)
(Source)

Kennedy, John F. -- Letter to his parents (Fall 1943)

Dave — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 18:57:00 +0000

When I read that we will fight the Japs for years if necessary and will sacrifice hundreds of thousands if we must, I always like to check from where he’s talking: it’s seldom from out here.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) American politician, author, journalist, US President (1961–63)
Letter to his parents (Fall 1943)
(Source)

While Kennedy was a US Navy Lieutenant (j.g), shortly before the invasion of Tarawa.

Shaw, George Bernard -- O’Flaherty, V.C. (1917)

Dave — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 17:21:18 +0000

You’ll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright and critic
O’Flaherty, V.C. (1917)
(Source)

Taylor, A. J. P. -- “What Else Indeed?” New York Review of Books (5 Aug 1965)

Dave — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 16:49:07 +0000

They had all been brought up, as we still are, to believe in “the deterrent.” Firm resolve, a readiness to threaten war, would avert war itself. Some Power would always give way. This usually happened, indeed happened so often that the wisdom of the method seemed sure. In 1914 all the Powers, for different reasons, expected the yielding to come from the other side.

A. J. P. Taylor (1906-1990) British historian, journalist, broadcaster [Alan John Percivale Taylor]
“What Else Indeed?” New York Review of Books (5 Aug 1965)
(Source)

Fussell, Paul -- Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War, ch. 11 (1989)

Dave — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 14:19:41 +0000

To get home you had to end the war. To end the war was the reason you fought it. The only reason.

Paul Fussell (1924-2012) American cultural and literary historian, author, academic
Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War, ch. 11 (1989)
(Source)

Orwell, George -- Homage to Catalonia, Appendix 1 (1938)

Dave — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 20:42:44 +0000

One of the most horrible features of war is that all the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Homage to Catalonia, Appendix 1 (1938)
(Source)

Fussell, Paul -- Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War, ch. 18 (1989)

Dave — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 14:51:58 +0000

In war, it is not just the weak soldiers, or the sensitive ones, or the highly imaginative or cowardly ones, who will break down. Inevitably, all will break down if in combat long enough.

Paul Fussell (1924-2012) American cultural and literary historian, author, academic
Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War, ch. 18 (1989)
(Source)

Fussell, Paul -- Times of London (28 Nov 1991)

Dave — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 15:43:06 +0000

The worst thing about war was the sitting around and wondering what you were doing morally.

Paul Fussell (1924-2012) American cultural and literary historian, author, academic
Times of London (28 Nov 1991)

Mitchell, Joni -- “Tax Free” (1985)

Dave — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 23:05:25 +0000

Lord, there’s danger in this land
You get witch-hunts and wars
When church and state hold hands

Joni Mitchell (b. 1943) Canadian singer-songwriter and painter [b. Roberta Joan Anderson]
“Tax Free” (1985)
(Source)

Sledge, E. B. -- With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa (1981)

Dave — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 17:05:31 +0000

Sitting in stunned silence, we remembered our dead. So many dead. So many maimed. So many bright futures consigned to the ashes of the past. So many dreams lost in the madness that had engulfed us. Except for a few widely scattered shouts of joy, the survivors of the abyss sat hollow-eyed and silent, trying to comprehend a world without war.

E. B. Sledge (1923-2001) American soldier, biologist, academic, memoirist [Eugene Bondurant Sledge]
With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa (1981)

On the reaction of his fellow Marines to the announcement of the Japanese surrender in WWII.

Paul Fussell quotes this passage in his essay "Thank God for the Atom Bomb," The New Republic (26 Aug 1981), and it is sometimes misattributed to him.

Taylor, A. J. P. -- The First World War: A Illustrated History, ch. 1 (1963)

Dave — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 15:06:15 +0000

The great armies, accumulated to provide security and preserve the peace, carried the nations to war by their own weight.

A. J. P. Taylor (1906-1990) British historian, journalist, broadcaster [Alan John Percivale Taylor]
The First World War: A Illustrated History, ch. 1 (1963)
(Source)

Nightingale, Florence -- Letter to her family (5 May 1855)

Dave — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 16:47:34 +0000

What the horrors of war are, no one can imagine — they are not wounds & blood & fever, spotted & low, or dysentery chronic & acute, cold & heat & famine. They are intoxication, drunken brutality, demoralization & disorder on the part of the inferior — jealousies, meanness, indifference, selfish brutality on the part of the superior.

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) English social reformer, statistician, founder of modern nursing
Letter to her family (5 May 1855)
(Source)

Fussell, Paul -- The Great War and Modern Memory, ch. 2 “The Troglodyte World” (1975)

Dave — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 16:41:15 +0000

Today the Somme is a peaceful but sullen place, unforgetting and unforgiving. The people, who work largely at raising vegetables and grains, are “correct” but not friendly. To wander now over the fields destined to extrude their rusty metal fragments for centuries is to appreciate in the most intimate way the permanent reverberations of July, 1916. When the air is damp you can smell rusted iron everywhere, even though you only see wheat and barley.

Paul Fussell (1924-2012) American cultural and literary historian, author, academic
The Great War and Modern Memory, ch. 2 “The Troglodyte World” (1975)
(Source)

Zweig, Stefan -- The World of Yesterday [Die Welt von Gestern], Preface (1942)

Dave — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 16:22:09 +0000

All the livid steeds of the Apocalypse have stormed through my life — revolution and famine, inflation and terror, epidemics and emigration. I have seen the great mass ideologies grow and spread before my eyes — Fascism in Italy, National Socialism in Germany, Bolshevism in Russia, and above all else that arch-plague nationalism which has poisoned the flower of our European culture.

Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, biographer
The World of Yesterday [Die Welt von Gestern], Preface (1942)
(Source)

Alternate translation [Sonnenfeld]:

All the pale horses of the apocalypse have stormed through my life, revolution, starvation, devaluation of currency and terror, epidemics, emigration; I have seen the great ideologies of the masses grow and spread out before my eyes. Fascism in Italy, National Socialism in Germany, Bolshevism in Russia, and, above all, that arch-pestilence, nationalism, which poisoned our flourishing European culture.

Pratchett, Terry -- “I create gods all the time — now I think one might exist,” Daily Mail (21 Jun 2008)

Dave — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 14:38:16 +0000

I don’t have much truck with the “religion is the cause of most of our wars” school of thought because that is manifestly done by mad, manipulative and power-hungry men who cloak their ambition in God.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
“I create gods all the time — now I think one might exist,” Daily Mail (21 Jun 2008)
(Source)

Taylor, A. J. P. -- The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848-1918, ch. 22 (1954)

Dave — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 18:53:25 +0000

No war is inevitable until it breaks out.

A. J. P. Taylor (1906-1990) British historian, journalist, broadcaster [Alan John Percivale Taylor]
The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848-1918, ch. 22 (1954)
(Source)

Orwell, George -- “Can Socialists Be Happy?” Tribune (1943-12-20) [as John Freeman]

Dave — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 21:18:09 +0000

Men use up their lives in heart-breaking political struggles, or get themselves killed in civil wars, or tortured in the secret prisons of the Gestapo, not in order to establish some central-heated, air-conditioned, strip-lighted Paradise, but because they want a world in which human beings love one another instead of swindling and murdering one another. And they want that world as a first step. Where they go from there is not so certain, and the attempt to foresee it in detail merely confuses the issue.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
“Can Socialists Be Happy?” Tribune (1943-12-20) [as John Freeman]
(Source)

Fussell, Paul -- “The Initial Shock,” Interview by Sheldon Hackney, Humanities (Nov/Dec 1996)

Dave — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 15:05:28 +0000

“Those who fought know a secret about themselves, and it is not very nice.” They have experienced secretly and privately their natural human impulse toward sadism and brutality. […] Not merely did I learn to kill with a noose of piano wire put around somebody’s neck from behind, but I learned to enjoy the prospect of killing that way. It’s those things that you learn about yourself that you never forget. You learn that you have much wider dimensions than you had imagined before you had to fight a war. That’s salutary. It’s well to know exactly who you are so you can conduct the rest of your life properly.

Paul Fussell (1924-2012) American cultural and literary historian, author, academic
“The Initial Shock,” Interview by Sheldon Hackney, Humanities (Nov/Dec 1996)
(Source)

Brilliant, Ashleigh -- Pot-Shots

Dave — Fri, 14 May 2021 18:05:21 +0000

War is one way of making decisions — but what’s decided may not be what anybody originally intended.

Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) Anglo-American epigramist, aphorist, cartoonist
Pot-Shots

Aeschylus -- (Misattributed)

Dave — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 18:06:32 +0000

Truth is the first casualty in war.

Aeschylus (525-456 BC) Greek dramatist (Æschylus)
(Misattributed)

Variant: "Truth is the first casualty of war."

Not found, as such, in Aeschylus' works. The closest (Fragm. Incert, xi.) is his phrase "God is not averse to deceit in a just cause." Attribution to of the subject phrase to Aeschylus dates only back to 1965. The first recorded use of the phrase as such is from 1915, but even there it is offered as a quotation from an unnamed source.

More discussion of the history of this phrase can be found here and here.

Teller, Edward -- “Fallout and Disarmament: A Debate Between Linus Pauling and Edward Teller,” KQED-TV, San Francisco (20 Feb 1958)

Dave — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 14:09:21 +0000

I don’t want to kill anybody. I am passionately opposed to killing, but I’m even more passionately fond of freedom.

Edward Teller (1908-2003) Hungarian-American theoretical physicist
“Fallout and Disarmament: A Debate Between Linus Pauling and Edward Teller,” KQED-TV, San Francisco (20 Feb 1958)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- “Prayer for All Those Who Work or Fight in the War”

Dave — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 16:58:24 +0000

Lord have pity upon all men.
To those who are in darkness
Be their light.
To those who are in despair
Be their Hope.
To those who are suffering
Be their Healing.
To those who are fearful
Be their Courage.
To those who are defeated
Be their Victory.
To those who are dying
Be their Life.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
“Prayer for All Those Who Work or Fight in the War”
(Source)

One of several prayers found in Roosevelt's wallet after her death. Author unknown. Another prayer found there:

Dear Lord, lest I continue in my complacent ways, help me to remember that somewhere someone died for me today. And if there be war, help me to remember to ask, "Am I worth dying for?"

Mills, C. Wright -- The Causes of World War Three (1958)

Dave — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 16:18:03 +0000

They know of no solutions to the paradoxes of the Middle East and Europe, the Far East and Africa except the landing of Marines. Being baffled, and also being very tired of being baffled, they have come to believe that there is no way out — except war — which would remove all the bewildering paradoxes of their tedious and now misguided attempts to construct peace. In place of these paradoxes they prefer the bright, clear problems of war — as they used to be. For they still believe that “winning” means something, although they never tell us what.

C. Wright Mills (1916-1962) American sociologist, academic, author [Charles Wright Mills]
The Causes of World War Three (1958)
(Source)

Van Creveld, Martin -- “Only a wall will keep them from each other’s throats,” The Telegraph (17 Mar 2002)

Dave — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 18:51:55 +0000

As Israel’s own history shows, fighting a stronger opponent will cause a society to unite, but combating a weaker one will cause it to split and disintegrate.

Martin van Creveld b. 1946) Israeli military historian and theorist
“Only a wall will keep them from each other’s throats,” The Telegraph (17 Mar 2002)
(Source)

Carter, Jimmy -- Nobel Peace Prize Lecture (10 Dec 2002)

Dave — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 20:12:03 +0000

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 (b. 1924) American politician, US President (1977-1981), Nobel laureate [James Earl Carter, Jr.]
Nobel Peace Prize Lecture (10 Dec 2002)
(Source)

Ferencz, Benjamin -- “What the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive wants the world to know,” interview with Leslie Stahl, 60 Minutes (7 May 2017)

Dave — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 19:17:39 +0000

War makes murderers out of otherwise decent people. All wars, and all decent people.

Benjamin Ferencz (b. 1920) American lawyer, international legal scholar, activist
“What the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive wants the world to know,” interview with Leslie Stahl, 60 Minutes (7 May 2017)
(Source)

Ferencz served as chief prosecutor of twenty Einsatzgruppen officers during the Nuremberg war crimes trials. Longer excerpt:

STAHL: Did you meet a lot of people who perpetrated war crimes who would otherwise in your opinion have been just a normal, upstanding citizen?
FERENCZ: Of course, is my answer. These men would never have been murderers had it not been for the war. These were people who could quote Goethe, who loved Wagner, who were polite --
STAHL: What turns a man into a savage beast like that?
FERENCZ: He's not a savage. He's an intelligent, patriotic human being.
STAHL: He's a savage when he does the murder though.
FERENCZ: No. He's a patriotic human being acting in the interest of his country, in his mind.
STAHL: You don't think they turn into savages even for the act?
FERENCZ: Do you think the man who dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima was a savage? Now I will tell you something very profound, which I have learned after many years. War makes murderers out of otherwise decent people. All wars, and all decent people.

Homer -- The Iliad [Ἰλιάς], Book 13, l. 358ff (13.358) (c. 750 BC) [tr. Fagles (1990), l. 417ff]

Dave — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 21:17:47 +0000

Both gods knotted the rope of strife and leveling war,
strangling both sides at once by stretching the mighty cable,
never broken, never slipped, that snapped the knees of thousands.

[Τοὶ δ’ ἔριδος κρατερῆς καὶ ὁμοιΐου πτολέμοιο
πεῖραρ ἐπαλλάξαντες ἐπ’ ἀμφοτέροισι τάνυσσαν
ἄῤῥηκτόν τ’ ἄλυτόν τε, τὸ πολλῶν γούνατ’ ἔλυσεν.]

Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author
The Iliad [Ἰλιάς], Book 13, l. 358ff (13.358) (c. 750 BC) [tr. Fagles (1990), l. 417ff]

On Zeus and Poseidon driving on the Greeks and Trojans during the war. Alt. trans.:

So these Gods made men’s valours great, but equall’d them with war
As harmful as their hearts were good; and stretch’d those chains as far
On both sides as their limbs could bear, in which they were involv’d
Past breach, or loosing, that their knees might therefore be dissolv’d.
[tr. Chapman (1611), l. 336ff]

These powers infold the Greek and Trojan train
In War and Discord's adamantine chain;
Indissolubly strong; the fatal tie
Is stretched on both, and close-compelled they die.
[tr. Pope (1715-20)]

Thus, these Immortal Two, straining the cord
Indissoluble of all-wasting war,
Alternate measured with it either host,
And loosed the joints of many a warrior bold.
[tr. Cowper (1791), l. 438ff]

This way and that they tugg’d of furious war
And balanc’d strife, where many a warrior fell,
The straining rope, which none might break or loose.
[tr. Derby (1864)]

These twain had strained the ends of the cords of strong strife and equal war, and had stretched them over both Trojans and Achaians, a knot that none might break nor undo, for the loosening of the knees of many.
[tr. Leaf/Lang/Myers (1891)]

Thus, then, did these two devise a knot of war and battle, that none could unloose or break, and set both sides tugging at it, to the failing of men's knees beneath them.
[tr. Butler (1898)]

So these twain knotted the ends of the cords of mighty strife and evil war, and drew them taut over both armies, a knot none might break nor undo, that loosed the knees of many men.
[tr. Murray (1924)]

So these two had looped over both sides a crossing
cable of strong discord and the closing of the battle, not to be
slipped, not to be broken, which unstrung the knees of many.
[tr. Lattimore (1951)]

These gods had interlocked and drawn
an ultimate hard line of strife and war
between the armies; none
could loosen or break that line
that had undone the knees of many men.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1974)]

Garfield, James A. -- Speech to the “Boys in Blue,” Madison Square Park, New York City (6 Aug 1880)

Dave — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 16:53:32 +0000

Gentlemen, ideas outlive men; ideas outlive all earthly things. You who fought in the war for the Union fought for immortal ideas, and by their might you crowned the war with victory. But victory was worth nothing except for the truths that were under it, in it, and above it.

James A. Garfield (1831-1881) US President (1881), lawyer, lay preacher, educator
Speech to the “Boys in Blue,” Madison Square Park, New York City (6 Aug 1880)
(Source)

Homer -- The Iliad [Ἰλιάς], Book 12, l. 322ff (12.322-328) [Sarpedon to Glaukos] (c. 750 BC) [tr. Fagles (1990), ll. 374-81]

Dave — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 17:13:01 +0000

Ah my friend, if you and I could escape this fray
and live forever, never a trace of age, immortal,
I would never fight on the front lines again
or command you to the field where men win fame.
But now, as it is, the fates of death await us,
thousands poised to strike, and not a man alive
can flee them or escape — so in we go for attack!
Give our enemy glory or win it for ourselves!

[Ὦ πέπον εἰ μὲν γὰρ πόλεμον περὶ τόνδε φυγόντε
αἰεὶ δὴ μέλλοιμεν ἀγήρω τ’ ἀθανάτω τε
ἔσσεσθ’, οὔτέ κεν αὐτὸς ἐνὶ πρώτοισι μαχοίμην
οὔτέ κε σὲ στέλλοιμι μάχην ἐς κυδιάνειραν·
νῦν δ’ ἔμπης γὰρ κῆρες ἐφεστᾶσιν θανάτοιο
μυρίαι, ἃς οὐκ ἔστι φυγεῖν βροτὸν οὐδ’ ὑπαλύξαι,
ἴομεν ἠέ τῳ εὖχος ὀρέξομεν ἠέ τις ἡμῖν.]

Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author
The Iliad [Ἰλιάς], Book 12, l. 322ff (12.322-328) [Sarpedon to Glaukos] (c. 750 BC) [tr. Fagles (1990), ll. 374-81]

Original Greek. Alt. trans.:

O friend, if keeping back
Would keep back age from us, and death, and that we might not wrack
In this life’s human sea at all, but that deferring now
We shunn’d death ever, nor would I half this vain valour show,
Nor glorify a folly so, to wish thee to advance;
But since we must go, though not here, and that, besides the chance
Propos’d now, there are infinite fates of other sort in death,
Which, neither to be fled nor ’scap’d, a man must sink beneath,
Come, try we, if this sort be ours, and either render thus
Glory to others, or make them resign the like to us.
[tr. Chapman (1611), ll. 323-33]

Could all our care elude the gloomy grave,
Which claims no less the fearful than the brave,
For lust of fame I should not vainly dare
In fighting fields, nor urge thy soul to war;
But since, alas! ignoble age must come,
Disease, and death's inexorable doom;
The life which others pay, let us bestow,
And give to fame what we to nature owe;
Brave though we fall, and honoured if we live,
Or let us glory gain, or glory give!
[tr. Pope (1715-20)]

Oh Glaucus, if escaping safe the death
That threats us here, we also could escape
Old age, and to ourselves secure a life
Immortal, I would neither in the van
Myself expose, nor would encourage thee
To tempt the perils of the glorious field.
But since a thousand messengers of fate
Pursue us close, and man is born to die --
E’en let us on; the prize of glory yield,
If yield we must, or wrest it from the foe.
[tr. Cowper (1791), ll. 389-98]

O dear friend, if indeed, by escaping from this war, we were destined to be ever free from old age, and immortal, neither would I combat myself in the van, nor send thee into the glorious battle. But now -- for of a truth ten thousand Fates of death press upon us, which it is not possible for a mortal to escape or avoid -- let us on: either we shall give glory to some one, or some one to us.
[tr. Buckley (1860)]

O friend! if we, survivors of this war,
Could live, from age and death for ever free,
Thou shouldst not see me foremost in the fight,
Nor would I urge thee to the glorious field:
But since on man ten thousand forms of death
Attend, which none may ’scape, then on, that we
May glory on others gain, or they on us!
[tr. Derby (1864)]

Ah, friend, if once escaped from this battle we were for ever to be ageless and immortal, neither would I fight myself in the foremost ranks, nor would I send thee into the war that giveth men renown, but now -- for assuredly ten thousand fates of death do every way beset us, and these no mortal may escape nor avoid -- now let us go forward, whether we shall give glory to other men, or others to us.
[tr. Leaf/Lang/Myers (1891)]

My good friend, if, when we were once out of this fight, we could escape old age and death thenceforward and for ever, I should neither press forward myself nor bid you do so, but death in ten thousand shapes hangs ever over our heads, and no man can elude him; therefore let us go forward and either win glory for ourselves, or yield it to another.
[tr. Butler (1898)]

Ah friend, if once escaped from this battle we were for ever to be ageless and immortal, neither should I fight myself amid the foremost, nor should I send thee into battle where men win glory; but now -- for in any case fates of death beset us, fates past counting, which no mortal may escape or avoid -- now let us go forward, whether we shall give glory to another, or another to us.
[tr. Murray (1924)]

Man, supposing you and I, escaping this battle,
would be able to live on forever, ageless, immortal,
so neither would I myself go on fighting in the foremost,
nor would I urge you into the fighting where men win glory.
But now, seeing that the spirits of death stand close about us
in their thousands, no man can turn aside or escape them,
let us go on and win glory for ourselves, or yield it to others.
[tr. Lattimore (1951)]

But now a thousand shapes of death surround us,
and no man can escape the, or be safe. Let us attack --
whether to give some fellow glory or to win it from him.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1974)]

Snicket, Lemony -- The Miserable Mill (2000)

Dave — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 16:14:18 +0000

The moral of “The Three Bears,” for instance, is “Never break into someone else’s house.” The moral of “Snow White” is “Never eat apples.” The moral of World War One is “Never assassinate Archduke Ferdinand.”

Lemony Snicket (b. 1970) American author, screenwriter, musician (pseud. for Daniel Handler)
The Miserable Mill (2000)

Barrett, James Lee -- Shenandoah (1965)

Dave — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 14:09:58 +0000

CHARLIE ANDERSON: There’s nothing much I can tell you about this war. It’s like all wars, I suppose. The undertakers are winning it. Oh, the politicians will talk a lot about the “glory” of it, and the old men’ll talk about the “need” of it — the soldiers, they just want to go home.

James Lee Barrett (1929-1989) American author, producer, screenwriter
Shenandoah (1965)
(Source)

Jay, John -- The Federalist #4 (7 Nov 1787)

Dave — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 19:33:59 +0000

It is too true, however disgraceful it may be to human nature, that nations in general will make war whenever they have a prospect of getting anything by it; nay, absolute monarchs will often make war when their nations are to get nothing by it, but for the purposes and objects merely personal, such as thirst for military glory, revenge for personal affronts, ambition, or private compacts to aggrandize or support their particular families or partisans. These and a variety of other motives, which affect only the mind of the sovereign, often lead him to engage in wars not sanctified by justice or the voice and interests of his people.

John Jay (1745-1829) American statesman, diplomat, abolitionist, politician, Chief Justice (1789-1795)
The Federalist #4 (7 Nov 1787)
(Source)

Barrett, James Lee -- Shenandoah (1965)

Dave — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 17:50:13 +0000

LT. JOHNSON: When are you going to take this war seriously, Anderson?

CHARLIE ANDERSON: Now let me tell you something, Johnson, before you get on my wrong side. My corn I take serious because it’s my corn, and my potatoes and my tomatoes and fences I take note of because they’re mine. But this war is not mine and I take no note of it!

James Lee Barrett (1929-1989) American author, producer, screenwriter
Shenandoah (1965)
(Source)

Menen, Aubrey -- A Conspiracy of Women (1966)

Dave — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 19:04:37 +0000

His view of war — and he had seen a great deal of it — was that a general made as many blunders as he fought battles, but, by the grace of the gods, the opposing generals’ blunders were sometimes worse.

Aubrey Menen (1912-1989) British writer, novelist, satirist, theatre critic
A Conspiracy of Women (1966)
(Source)

See Tartakower.

Arendt, Hannah -- Essay (1969-02-27), “Reflections on Violence,” The New York Review of Books

Dave — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 14:58:42 +0000

The chief reason warfare is still with us is neither a secret death-wish of the human species, nor an irrepressible instinct of aggression, nor, finally and more plausibly, the serious economic and social dangers inherent in disarmament, but the simple fact that no substitute for this final arbiter in international affairs has yet appeared on the political scene.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Essay (1969-02-27), “Reflections on Violence,” The New York Review of Books
(Source)

Revised and collected in On Violence, ch. 1 (1970).

Garfield, James A. -- Speech at Arlington National Cemetery, Decoration Day (30 May 1868)

Dave — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 19:35:16 +0000

I am oppressed with a sense of the impropriety of uttering words on this occasion. If silence is ever golden, it must be here, beside the graves of fifteen thousand men, whose lives were more significant than speech, and whose death was a poem, the music of which can never be sung. With words we make promises, plight faith, praise virtue. Promises may not be kept, plighted faith may be broken, and vaunted virtue be only the cunning mask of vice. We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke: but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue. For the noblest man that lives, there still remains a conflict. He must still withstand the assaults of time and fortune, must still be assailed with temptations, before which lofty natures have fallen; but with these the conflict ended, the victory was won, when death stamped on them the great seal of heroic character, and closed a record which years can never blot.

James A. Garfield (1831-1881) US President (1881), lawyer, lay preacher, educator
Speech at Arlington National Cemetery, Decoration Day (30 May 1868)
(Source)

A speech by Garfield, then a Congressman and a former Union Major General in the Civil War, for the first Decoration Day (later Memorial Day) ceremonies.

Homer -- The Iliad [Ἰλιάς], Book 1, l. 1ff (1.1-5) (c. 750 BC) [tr. Fagles (1990)]

Dave — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 15:40:15 +0000

Rage — Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,
murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,
hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls,
great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies carrion,
feasts for the dogs and birds.

[Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεά, Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί᾽ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε᾽ ἔθηκε,
πολλὰς δ᾽ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν
ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν
οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι.]

Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author
The Iliad [Ἰλιάς], Book 1, l. 1ff (1.1-5) (c. 750 BC) [tr. Fagles (1990)]

Original Greek. Alternate translation:

The wrath of Peleus' son, the direful spring
Of all the Grecian woes, O Goddess, sing!
That wrath which hurled to Pluto's gloomy reign
The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain,
Whose limbs, unburied on the naked shore,
Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore ....
[tr. Pope (1715-20)]

Achilles sing, O Goddess! Peleus' son;
His wrath pernicious, who ten thousand woes
Caused to Achaia’s host, sent many a soul
Illustrious into Ades premature,
And Heroes gave (so stood the will of Jove)
To dogs and to all ravening fowls a prey.
[tr. Cowper (1791)]

Sing, O goddess, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Greeks, and hurled many valiant souls of heroes down to Hades, and made themselves a prey to dogs and to all birds ....
[tr. Buckley (1860)]

Of Peleus' son, Achilles, sing, O Muse,
The vengeance, deep and deadly; wence to Greece
Unnumber'd ills arose; which many a soul
Of mighty warriors to the viewless shades
Untimely sent; they on the battle plain
Unburied lay, a prey to rav'ning dogs,
And carrion birds ....
[tr. Derby (1864)]

Sing, goddess, the wrath of Achilles Peleus' son, the ruinous wrath that brought on the Achaians woes innumerable, and hurled down into Hades many strong souls of heroes, and gave their bodies to be a prey to dogs and all winged fowls ....
[tr. Leaf/Lang/Myers (1891)]

Sing, O goddess, the rage of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures ....
[tr. Butler (1898)]

The wrath sing, goddess, of Peleus' son, Achilles, that destructive wrath which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans, and sent forth to Hades many valiant souls of heroes, and made them themselves spoil for dogs and every bird ....
[tr. Murray (1924)]

Anger be now your song, immortal one,
Achilles' anger, doomed and ruinous,
that cause the Achaeans loss on bitter loss
and crowded brave souls into the undergloom,
leaving so many dead men -- carrion
for dogs and birds ....
[tr. Fitzgerald (1974)]

Sing now, goddess, the wrath of Achilles the scion of Peleus,
ruinous rage which brought the Achaians uncounted afflictions;
many the powerful souls it sent to the dwellings of Hades,
those of the heroes, and spoil for the dogs it made of their bodies,
plunder for all of the birds ....
[tr. Merrill (2007)]

Inge, William Ralph -- Lecture 22, Gifford Lectures, University of St Andrews, Scotland (1918)

Dave — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 21:31:31 +0000

A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he cannot sit in it.

William Ralph Inge (1860-1954) English prelate [Dean Inge]
Lecture 22, Gifford Lectures, University of St Andrews, Scotland (1918)
(Source)

Reprinted in Philosophy of Plotinus, Vol. 2 (1923).

MacArthur, Douglas -- Speech, Republican National Convention, Chicago (7 Jul 1952)

Dave — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 15:50:14 +0000

It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.

Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) American general
Speech, Republican National Convention, Chicago (7 Jul 1952)
(Source)

Mahan, A. T. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 20:41:21 +0000

As far as the advocacy of peace rests on material motives like economy and prosperity, it is the service of Mammon; and the bottom of the platform will drop out when Mammon thinks that war will pay better.

A. T. Mahan (1840-1914) American admiral, strategist, historian [Alfred Thayer Mahan]
(Attributed)
(Source)

Attributed in William Ralph Inge, "The Indictment against Christianity" (1917), Outspoken Essays, ch. 10 (1919).

Philo of Alexandria -- On Dreams, That They Are God-Sent [Quod a Deo Mittantur Somnia or De Somniis], Book 2, ch. 12 [2.78-79] [tr. @sentantiq]

Dave — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 21:33:17 +0000

Indeed, just as frightened horses raise their necks up high, in the same way all those devotees of empty glory raise themselves above everything else, above cities, laws, ancestral custom, and the affairs of individual citizens. As they move from demagoguery to dictatorship, they subdue some of their neighbors as they try to make themselves superior and upright — and then they plan to enslave however so many minds remain naturally free and unenslaved.

[τῷ γὰρ ὄντι καθάπερ οἱ γαῦροι τῶν ἵππων τὸν αὐχένα μετέωρον ἐξάραντες, ὅσοι θιασῶται τῆς κενῆς δόξης εἰσίν, ἐπάνω πάντων ἑαυτοὺς ἱδρύουσι, πόλεων, νόμων, ἐθῶν πατρίων, τῶν παρ᾿ ἑκάστοις πραγμάτων· εἶτα ἀπὸ δημαγωγίας ἐπὶ δημαρχίαν βαδίζοντες καὶ τὰ μὲν τῶν πλησίον καταβάλλοντες, τὰ δὲ οἰκεῖα διανιστάντες καὶ παγίως ὀρθοῦντες, ὅσα ἐλεύθερα καὶ ἀδούλωτα φύσει φρονήματα]

Philo of Alexandria (AD c. 20-50) Hellenistic Jewish philosopher [Philo Judaeus]
On Dreams, That They Are God-Sent [Quod a Deo Mittantur Somnia or De Somniis], Book 2, ch. 12 [2.78-79] [tr. @sentantiq]
(Source)

Alt. trans.: "In real truth, as spirited horses lift their necks high, so all who are companions of vain opinion place themselves above all things, above all cities, and laws, and national customs, and above all the circumstances which affect each individual of them. Then proceeding onwards from being demagogues to being leaders of the people, and overthrowing the things which belong to their neighbours, and setting up and establishing on a solid footing what belongs to themselves, that is to say, all such dispositions as are free and by nature impatient of slavery, they attempt to reduce these also under their power." [Yonge (1855)]

Forster, E. M. -- Letter to Malcolm Darling (6 Nov 1914)

Dave — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 15:45:18 +0000

The newspapers still talk about glory but the average man, thank God, has got rid of that illusion. It is a damned bore, with a stalemate as the most probable outcome, but one has to see it through, and see it through with the knowledge that whichever side wins, civilisation in Europe will be pipped for the next 30 years. Don’t indulge in Romance here, Malcolm, or suppose that an era of jolly little nationalities is dawning. We shall be much too much occupied with pestilence and poverty to reconstruct.

E. M. Forster (1879-1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist [Edward Morgan Forster]
Letter to Malcolm Darling (6 Nov 1914)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6

Dave — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 19:56:56 +0000

The real and lasting victories are those of peace and not of war.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures, "The Conduct of Life," delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Power,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 2

Dave — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 20:28:55 +0000

Concentration is the secret of strength in politics, in war, in trade, in short, in all management of human affairs.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Power,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 2
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures by that name first delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Inge, William Ralph -- “The Future of the English Race,” Galton Lecture (1919), Outspoken Essays: First Series (1920)

Dave — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 20:41:21 +0000

Race and nationality are catchwords for which rulers find that their subjects are willing to fight, as they fought for what they called religion four hundred years ago.

William Ralph Inge (1860-1954) English prelate [Dean Inge]
“The Future of the English Race,” Galton Lecture (1919), Outspoken Essays: First Series (1920)
(Source)

Ennius -- Annales, Book 8, Sec. 3, l. 262-8

Dave — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 17:56:46 +0000

Wisdom is publicly rejected, affairs are pursued with force,
A good speaker is spurned, and the wretched warrior is loved.
Men strive not with educated speeches but instead with insults
attack one another and enter into mutual enmity.
They seize property suddenly not by the right of law but with swords
As they seek sovereignty and wander with the power of the mob.

[Pellitur e medio sapientia, vi geritur res,
spernitur orator bonus, horridus miles amatur.
haut doctis dictis certantes nec maledictis
miscent inter sese inimicitiam agitantes,
non ex iure manum consertum, sed magis ferro
rem repetunt regnumque petunt, vadunt solida vi.]

Ennius (239-169 BC) Roman poet, writer [Quintus Ennius]
Annales, Book 8, Sec. 3, l. 262-8
(Source)

On public discourse during wars. Fragment quoted by Cicero in Epistle 171.

Alt. trans.: "Pushed away from the centre good sense, force rules the day, / despised the good orator, the horrid soldier cherished. / Fighting, not with learned words or curses, / they clash with one another, pushing hostilities, / laying hand onto one another not rightfully, but rather with the sword / they seek material gain and strive for power, advancing with brute force."

Archilochus -- Fragment 79 [tr. Davenport (1964)]

Dave — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 18:28:33 +0000

Some Saian mountaineer
Struts today with my shield.
I threw it down by a bush and ran
When the fighting got hot.
Life seemed somehow more precious.
It was a beautiful shield.
I know where I can buy another
Exactly like it, just as round.

Archilochus (c. 680-645 BC) Greek lyric poet and mercenary [Ἀρχίλοχος, Archilochos, Arkhilokhus]
Fragment 79 [tr. Davenport (1964)]
(Source)

Fragment from Plutarch, "Laws and Customs of the Lacedaemonians". Alt. trans.:

"Let who will boast their courage in the field, / I find but little safety from my shield. / Nature's, not honour's, law we must obey: / This made me cast my useless shield away, / And, by a prudent flight and cunning, save / A life, which valour could not, from the grave. / A better buckler I can soon regain; / But who can get another life again?" [tr. Pulleyn (18th C)]
"A Saian boasts about the shield which beside a bush / though good armour I unwillingly left behind. / I saved myself, so what do I care about the shield? / To hell with it! I'll get one soon just as good." ["To my shield" (D6, 5W)]
"I don't give a damn if some Thracian ape struts / Proud of that first-rate shield the bushes got. / Leaving it was hell, but in a tricky spot / I kept my hide intact. Good shields can be bought." [tr. Silverman]
"Some barbarian is waving my shield, since I was obliged to leave that perfectly good piece of equipment behind under a bush. But I got away, so what does it matter? Life seemed somehow more precious. Let the shield go; I can buy another one equally good." [tr. Lattimore (1955)]

Identified elsewhere as Fragment 6.

Machiavelli, Niccolo -- Florentine Histories, Book 3, ch. 2 (1521-5)

Dave — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 20:33:24 +0000

Wars begin when you will, but they do not end when you please.

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) Italian politician, philosopher, political scientist
Florentine Histories, Book 3, ch. 2 (1521-5)

As commonly given, specific translation unknown. Alt. trans.:

"It is in the power of any man to begin a war, but he cannot end it when he pleases." [tr. Lester (1843)]
"People may go to war when they will, but cannot always withdraw when they like." [Bohn's Standard Library (1891)]
"Wars begin at the will of anyone, but they do not end at anyone's will." [tr. Banield and Mansfield (1988), Book 3, ch. 7]

McLuhan, Marshall -- In the Montreal Gazette (16 May 1975)

Dave — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 18:31:55 +0000

Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America — not the battlefields of Vietnam.

Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) Canadian philosopher, communication theorist, educator
In the Montreal Gazette (16 May 1975)

Forster, E. M. -- “What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)

Dave — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 15:32:49 +0000

Certainly it is presumptuous to say that we cannot improve, and that Man, who has only been in power for a few thousand years, will never learn to make use of his power. All I mean is that, if people continue to kill one another as they do, the world cannot get better than it is, and that, since there are more people than formerly, and their means for destroying one another superior, the world may well get worse. What is good in people — and consequently in the world — is their insistence on creation, their belief in friendship and loyalty for their own sakes; and, though Violence remains and is, indeed, the major partner in this muddled establishment, I believe that creativeness remains too, and will always assume direction when violence sleeps.

E. M. Forster (1879-1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist [Edward Morgan Forster]
“What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)
(Source)

Forster, E. M. -- “What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)

Dave — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 18:35:39 +0000

Some people idealize force and pull it into the foreground and worship it, instead of keeping it in the background as long as possible. I think they make a mistake, and I think that their opposites, the mystics, err even more when they declare that force does not exist. I believe that it exists, and that one of our jobs is to prevent it from getting out of its box. It gets out sooner or later, and then it destroys us and all the lovely things which we have made. But it is not out all the time, for the fortunate reason that the strong are so stupid.

E. M. Forster (1879-1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist [Edward Morgan Forster]
“What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)

Forster, E. M. -- “What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)

Dave — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 00:48:48 +0000

I realize that all society rests upon force. But all the great creative actions, all the decent human relations, occur during the intervals when force has not managed to come to the front. These intervals are what matter. I want them to be as frequent and as lengthy as possible, and I call them “civilization”.

E. M. Forster (1879-1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist [Edward Morgan Forster]
“What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)
(Source)

Trumbo, Dalton -- Johnny Got His Gun (1938)

Dave — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 01:22:33 +0000

There’s nothing noble about dying. Not even if you die for honor. Not even if you die the greatest hero the world ever saw. Not even if you’re so great your name will never be forgotten and who’s that great? The most important thing is your life, little guys. You’re worth nothing dead except for speeches. Don’t let them kid you any more. Pay no attention when they tap you on the shoulder and say come along we’ve got to fight for liberty, or whatever their word is. There’s always a word.

Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976) American screenwriter and novelist [James Dalton Trumbo]
Johnny Got His Gun (1938)
(Source)

Trumbo, Dalton -- Johnny Got His Gun, ch. 10 (1938)

Dave — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 23:30:33 +0000

You can always hear the people who are willing to sacrifice somebody else’s life. They’re plenty loud and they talk all the time. You can find them in churches and schools and newspapers and congresses. That’s their business. They sound wonderful. Death before dishonor. This ground sanctified by blood. These men who died so gloriously. They shall not have died in vain. Our noble dead.
Hmmmm.
But what do the dead say?
Did anybody ever come back from the dead any single one of the millions who got killed did any one of them ever come back and say by god I’m glad I’m dead because death is always better than dishonor? Did they say I’m glad I died to make the world safe for democracy? Did they say I like death better than losing liberty? Did any of them ever say it’s good to think I got my guts blown out for the honor of my country? Did any of them ever say look at me I’m dead but I died for decency and that’s better than being alive? Did any of them ever say here I am, I’ve been rotting for two years in a foreign grave but it’s wonderful to die for your native land? Did any of them say hurray I died for womanhood and I’m happy, see how I sing even though my mouth is choked with worms?
Nobody but the dead know whether all these things people talk about are worth dying for or not. And the dead can’t talk.

Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976) American screenwriter and novelist [James Dalton Trumbo]
Johnny Got His Gun, ch. 10 (1938)
(Source)

Kubrick, Stanley -- Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Dave — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 22:24:43 +0000

JOKER: The dead know only one thing: it is better to be alive.

Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) American film director, screenwriter, producer
Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Shakespeare, William -- Henry V, Act 4, sc. 1, l. 182ff (4.1.182-183) (1599)

Dave — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 16:41:04 +0000

HENRY: Every subject’s duty is the king’s; but every subject’s soul is his own.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry V, Act 4, sc. 1, l. 182ff (4.1.182-183) (1599)
(Source)

Eschewing responsibility for his soldiers dying with unconfessed sins.

Shakespeare, William -- Henry V, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 9ff (3.2.9-14) (1599)

Dave — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 15:40:10 +0000

PISTOL: Knocks go and come. God’s vassals drop and die,
And sword and shield,
In bloody field,
Doth win immortal fame.

BOY: Would I were in an alehouse in London! I would
give all my fame for a pot of ale, and safety.

PISTOL: And I.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry V, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 9ff (3.2.9-14) (1599)
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- Henry V, Act 3, sc. 1, l. 1ff (3.1.1-8) (1599)

Dave — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 17:49:44 +0000

HENRY: Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace, there’s nothing so becomes a man,
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favored rage ….

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry V, Act 3, sc. 1, l. 1ff (3.1.1-8) (1599)
(Source)

Bailey, Philip James -- Festus, Sc. “A Metropolis – Public Place” [Lucifer] (1839)

Dave — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 17:34:37 +0000

Man is a military animal,
Glories in gunpowder, and loves parade;
Prefers them to all things.

Philip James Bailey (1816-1902) English poet, lawyer
Festus, Sc. “A Metropolis – Public Place” [Lucifer] (1839)
(Source)

Key, Ellen -- War, Peace, and the Future, ch. 6 (1916) [tr. Norberg]

Dave — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 04:25:03 +0000

The worst barbarity of war is that it forces men collectively to commit acts against which individually they would revolt with their whole being.

Ellen Key (1849-1926) Swedish feminist and writer
War, Peace, and the Future, ch. 6 (1916) [tr. Norberg]
(Source)

Russell, Bertrand -- Education and the Good Life, Part 2, ch. 11 “Affection and Sympathy” (1926)

Dave — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 23:47:28 +0000

The cultivation of wide sympathies, given the instinctive germ, is mainly an intellectual matter: it depends upon the right direction of attention, and the realization of facts which militarists and authoritarians suppress. Take, for example, Tolstoy’s description of Napoleon going round the battlefield of Austerlitz after the victory. Most histories leave the battlefield as soon as the battle is over; by the simple expedient of lingering on it for another twelve hours, a completely different picture of war is produced. This is done, not by suppressing facts, but by giving more facts. And what applies to battles applies equally to other forms of cruelty. In all cases, it should be quite unnecessary to point the moral; the right telling of the story should be sufficient. Do not moralize, but let the facts produce their own moral in the child’s mind.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Good Life, Part 2, ch. 11 “Affection and Sympathy” (1926)
(Source)

Heinlein, Robert A. -- Revolt in 2100 (1953)

Dave — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 21:11:33 +0000

War is a simple matter compared with revolution. War is an applied science, with well-defined principles tested in history; analogous solutions may be found from ballista to H-bomb. But every revolution is a freak, a mutant, a monstrosity, its conditions never to be repeated and its operations carried out by amateurs and individualists.

Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American writer
Revolt in 2100 (1953)

Niebuhr, Reinhold -- “Christian Faith and the World Crisis,” Christianity and Crisis (10 Feb 1941)

Dave — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 17:17:54 +0000

[T]here are historic situations in which refusal to defend the inheritance of a civilization, however imperfect, against tyranny and aggression may result in consequences even worse than war.

Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) American theologian and clergyman
“Christian Faith and the World Crisis,” Christianity and Crisis (10 Feb 1941)

Legman, Gershon -- Speech, Ohio University (Nov 1963)

Dave — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 22:37:36 +0000

Make love not war.

Gershon Legman (1917-1999) American writer
Speech, Ohio University (Nov 1963)

The coining of the phrase was attested in correspondence between Fred R. Shapiro, The Yale Book of Quotations (2006), and Legman's widow, Judith Legman.

Lecky, William -- History of European Morals, Vol. 2, ch. 4 (1869)

Dave — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 21:14:18 +0000

It had been boldly predicted by some of the early Christians that the conversion of the world would lead to the establishment of perpetual peace. In looking back, with our present experience, we are driven to the melancholy conclusion that, instead of diminishing the number of wars, ecclesiastical influence as actually and very seriously increased it.

William Lecky (1838-1903) Irish historian
History of European Morals, Vol. 2, ch. 4 (1869)

Adams, John -- Letter (1776-08-18) to Abigail Adams

Dave — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 00:47:08 +0000

We cannot insure Success, but We can deserve it.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1776-08-18) to Abigail Adams
(Source)

Perhaps after Addison (1713).

Harris, Sydney J. -- “Nations Should Submit to the Rule of Law,” Clearing the Ground (1986)

Dave — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 04:05:04 +0000

“Terrorism” is what we call the violence of the weak, and we condemn it; “war” is what we call the violence of the strong, and we glorify it.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
“Nations Should Submit to the Rule of Law,” Clearing the Ground (1986)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “War,” lecture, Boston (1838-03), Aesthetic Papers, Article 3 (1849)

Dave — Tue, 08 Nov 2016 05:12:45 +0000

The manhood that has been in war must be transferred to the cause of peace, before war can lose its charm, and peace be venerable to men.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“War,” lecture, Boston (1838-03), Aesthetic Papers, Article 3 (1849)
(Source)

Adams, John Quincy -- Written in an Album (1842)

Dave — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 02:45:03 +0000

This hand, to tyrants ever sworn the foe,
For Freedom only deals the deadly blow;
Then sheathes in calm repose the vengeful blade,
For gentle peace in Freedom’s hallowed shade.

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) US President (1825-29)
Written in an Album (1842)

King, Martin Luther -- “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” National Cathedral, Washington, DC (31 Mar 1968)

Dave — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 21:38:05 +0000

It is no longer a choice, my friends, between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence. And the alternative to disarmament, the alternative to a greater suspension of nuclear tests, the alternative to strengthening the United Nations and thereby disarming the whole world, may well be a civilization plunged into the abyss of annihilation, and our earthly habitat would be transformed into an inferno that even the mind of Dante could not imagine.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” National Cathedral, Washington, DC (31 Mar 1968)
(Source)

Aeschylus -- Agamemnon

Dave — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 03:07:00 +0000

Hell to ships, hell to men, hell to cities.

Aeschylus (525-456 BC) Greek dramatist (Æschylus)
Agamemnon

Speaking of Helen of Troy. The literal translation is "Ship-destroyer, man-destroyer, city-destroyer."

Brust, Steven -- Dragon (1998)

Dave — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 00:00:09 +0000

You judge a war according to who is in the right as long as you have no interest in the outcome; if you’re one of the participants, or if the result is going to have a major effect on you, then you have to create the moral principles that put you in the right — that’s nothing new, everyone knows it.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Dragon (1998)

Bush, George W. -- Speech, Milwaukee (3 Oct 2003)

Dave — Fri, 27 May 2016 19:48:13 +0000

See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don’t attack each other. Free nations don’t develop weapons of mass destruction.

George W. Bush (b. 1946) US President (2001-2009)
Speech, Milwaukee (3 Oct 2003)
(Source)

Referring to insurgencies in Iraq.

Kennedy, John F. -- Speech, United Nations (23 Sep 1961)

Dave — Wed, 25 May 2016 17:24:27 +0000

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) American politician, author, journalist, US President (1961–63)
Speech, United Nations (23 Sep 1961)

Speech written by Theodore "Ted" Sorensen.

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- Crusade in Europe (1948)

Dave — Tue, 24 May 2016 13:30:17 +0000

Morale is the greatest single factor in successful war.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Crusade in Europe (1948)

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- “Security in the Free World,” broadcast speech (15 Mar 1959)

Dave — Tue, 03 May 2016 20:34:30 +0000

But all history has taught us the grim lesson that no nation has ever been successful in avoiding the terrors of war by refusing to defend its rights — by attempting to placate aggression.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
“Security in the Free World,” broadcast speech (15 Mar 1959)

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- “Regarding the Situation in the Formosa Straits,” broadcast speech (11 Sep 1958)

Dave — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 21:39:14 +0000

I know something about that war, and I never want to see that history repeated. But, my fellow Americans, it certainly can be repeated if the peace-loving democratic nations again fearfully practice a policy of standing idly by while big aggressors use armed force to conquer the small and weak.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
“Regarding the Situation in the Formosa Straits,” broadcast speech (11 Sep 1958)

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- Speech, Seattle (17 Oct 1956)

Dave — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 13:22:30 +0000

The only way to win the next world war is to prevent it.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Speech, Seattle (17 Oct 1956)

Santayana, George -- Persons and Places, entry, c. 1880 (1944)

Dave — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:58:26 +0000

It would repel me less to be a hangman than a soldier, because the one is obliged to put to death only criminals sentenced by the law, but the other kills honest men who like himself bathe in innocent blood at the bidding of some superior.

George Santayana (1863-1952) Spanish-American poet and philosopher [Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruíz de Santayana y Borrás]
Persons and Places, entry, c. 1880 (1944)

Verne, Jules -- From the Earth to the Moon, ch. 10 (1865) [tr. Scribner’s (1890)]

Dave — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 15:02:09 +0000

They did to others that which they would not they should do to them — that grand principle of immorality upon which rests the whole art of war.

[Ils faisaient à autrui ce qu’ils ne voulaient pas qu’on leur fît, principe immoral sur lequel repose tout l’art de la guerre.]

Jules Verne (1828-1905) French novelist, poet, playwright
From the Earth to the Moon, ch. 10 (1865) [tr. Scribner’s (1890)]
(Source)

Alt. trans.: "They did unto others what they would not have others do unto them, an immoral principle that is the basic premise of the art of war." [tr. Miller (1978)]

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- Speech, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh (19 Oct 1950)

Dave — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 19:08:48 +0000

Possibly my hatred of war blinds me so that I cannot comprehend the arguments they adduce. But, in my opinion, there is no such thing as a preventive war. Although this suggestion is repeatedly made, none has yet explained how war prevents war. Worse than this, no one has been able to explain away the fact that war creates the conditions that beget war.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Speech, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh (19 Oct 1950)

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- Speech, Graduation Exercises, US Military Academy, West Point (3 Jun 1947)

Dave — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 14:35:23 +0000

War is mankind’s most tragic and stupid folly; to seek or advise its deliberate provocation is a black crime against all men. Though you follow the trade of the warrior, you do so in the spirit of Washington — not of Genghis Khan. For Americans, only threat to our way of life justifies resort to conflict.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Speech, Graduation Exercises, US Military Academy, West Point (3 Jun 1947)

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- United War Fund appeal (11 Sep 1945)

Dave — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 14:42:05 +0000

War is a grim, cruel business, a business justified only as a means of sustaining the forces of good against those of evil.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
United War Fund appeal (11 Sep 1945)
(Source)

De Weerd, H. A. -- “Strategic Surprise in the Korean War,” Orbis (1962)

Dave — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 14:41:48 +0000

It was not the absence of intelligence which led us into trouble but our unwillingness to draw unpleasant conclusions from it.

H. A. de Weerd (1902-1979) American military historian, author [Harvey Arthur de Weerd]
“Strategic Surprise in the Korean War,” Orbis (1962)

On the US decision in 1950 to call China's bluff by advancing above the 38th parallel.

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- Speech, Guildhall, London (12 Jun 1945)

Dave — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 16:15:13 +0000

Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in blood of his followers and sacrifices of his friends.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Speech, Guildhall, London (12 Jun 1945)

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- Speech, Conference of the National Women’s Advisory Committee on Civil Defense (26 Oct 1954)

Dave — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 14:13:57 +0000

One of the things that I noticed in war was how difficult it was for our soldiers, at first, to realize that there are no rules to war. Our men were raised in sports, where a referee runs a football game, or an umpire a baseball game, and so forth.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Speech, Conference of the National Women’s Advisory Committee on Civil Defense (26 Oct 1954)

Bradley, Omar -- Testimony, Senate Committees on Armed Services and Foreign Relations (15 May 1951)

Dave — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 21:25:53 +0000

I am under no illusion that our present strategy of using means short of total war to achieve our ends and oppose communism is a guarantee that a world war will not be thrust upon us. But a policy of patience and determination without provoking a world war, while we improve our military power, is one which we believe we must continue to follow. … Under present circumstances, we have recommended against enlarging the war from Korea to also include Red China. The course of action often described as a limited war with Red China would increase the risk we are taking by engaging too much of our power in an area that is not the critical strategic prize. Red China is not the powerful nation seeking to dominate the world. Frankly, in the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, this strategy would involve us in the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy.

Omar Bradley (1893-1981) American general
Testimony, Senate Committees on Armed Services and Foreign Relations (15 May 1951)

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- Speech, Young Republican National Leadership Training School (20 Jan 1960)

Dave — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 14:03:16 +0000

My life has been largely spent in affairs that required organization. But organization itself, necessary as it is, is never sufficient to win a battle.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Speech, Young Republican National Leadership Training School (20 Jan 1960)

Carnegie, Andrew -- “A Plea for Peace,” New York Times (7 Apr 1907)

Dave — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 17:30:28 +0000

Are there no ideals more stirring than those of martial glory? Is this generation conscious of calls to the service of native land in ways no more worthy than the way of taking a musket and killing somebody? You ask, in the language of Prof. James, for a moral equivalent for war. A patriot needs only look about to find numberless causes that ought to warm the blood and stir the imagination. The dispelling of ignorance and the fostering of education, the investigation of disease and the searching out of remedies that will vanquish the giant ills that decimate the race, the inculcation of good feeling in the industrial world, the cause of the aged, the cause of the men and women who had so little chance — tell me, has war anything that beckons as these things beckon with alluring and compelling power? Whoso wants to share the heroism of battle let him join the fight against ignorance and disease — and the mad idea that war is necessary.

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) American industrialist and philanthropist
“A Plea for Peace,” New York Times (7 Apr 1907)
(Source)

Brecht, Bertholt -- “General, Your Tank Is a Powerful Vehicle,” in “From a German War Primer,” The Svendborg Poems (1939) [tr. Baxandall]

Dave — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 15:55:51 +0000

General, man is very useful.
He can fly and he can kill.
But he has one defect:
He can think.

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) German poet, playwright, director, dramaturgist
“General, Your Tank Is a Powerful Vehicle,” in “From a German War Primer,” The Svendborg Poems (1939) [tr. Baxandall]

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- Speech, Tenth Colombo Plan Meeting, Seattle (10 Nov 1958)

Dave — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 20:44:29 +0000

In vast stretches of the earth, men awoke today in hunger. They will spend the day in unceasing toil. And as the sun goes down they will still know hunger. They will see suffering in the eyes of their children. Many despair that their labor will ever decently shelter their families or protect them against disease. So long as this is so, peace and freedom will be in danger throughout our world. For wherever free men lose hope of progress, liberty will be weakened and the seeds of conflict will be sown.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Speech, Tenth Colombo Plan Meeting, Seattle (10 Nov 1958)

Brecht, Bertholt -- “General, Your Tank Is a Powerful Vehicle,” in “From a German War Primer,” The Svendborg Poems (1939) [tr. Baxandall]

Dave — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 15:44:28 +0000

General, your tank
is a powerful vehicle
it smashes down forests
and crushes a hundred men.
but it has one defect:
it needs a driver.

Shultz, George -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 16:07:49 +0000

When I think about all the money we spent on bombs and munitions, and our failures in Viet Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan and other places around the world … Instead of advancing our agenda using force, we should have instead built schools and hospitals in these countries, improving the lives of their children. By now, those children would have grown into positions of influence, and they would be grateful to us instead of hating us.

George Shultz (b. 1920) American economist, statesman, and businessman
(Attributed)
(Source)

Quoted in In Daniel Levitin, The Organized Mind (2014).

Nietzsche, Friedrich -- The Wanderer and His Shadow (1880)

Dave — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 14:10:37 +0000

Better perish than hate and fear, and twice rather perish than make oneself hated and feared — this must someday become the highest maxim for every single commonwealth.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet
The Wanderer and His Shadow (1880)

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)