What is your favorite peace (or war) quote(s)?

[bloom]

or 10, or 20 favorites.

By famous people - and/or you....

[GOPisEvil]

1. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Gandhi.

[Sagan]

2. Talleyrand

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' whilst one searches for a rock."

[SiobhanClancy]

3. "Only the dead have seen the end of war"-Plato n/t

[Richardo]

4. `You can be killed just as dead in an unjustified war...

...as you can in one protecting your own home.'

<--- This guy.

[markus]

5. Einstein?

You cannot simultaneously prepare for war and for peace.

[bloom]

25. here is another Einstein one

Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe. But maybe, by raising my voice I can help the greatest of all causes - goodwill among men and peace on earth.

- Albert Einstein

[Zomby Woof]

6. where do I begin?

"All we are saying, is give peace a chance!" John Lennon, Give Peace A Chance

"Peace is a position of strength and courage. It strengthens bold prophets while war strengthens gold profits." - Laurin Suiter, Peace Is A Position Of Strength

"White doves in flight, peace to all, but tell me why do peacemakers fall? Must we bury any more?" - Dave Hlubek, Fall Of The Peacemakers

"Peace begins when the hungry are fed." - Anonymous

"Peace is not the product of a victory or a command. It has no finishing line, no final deadline, no fixed definition of achievement. Peace is a never-ending process, the work of many decisions." - Oscar Arias

"Peace is difficult to achieve, harder to maintain, but even harder to prevent." - Laurin Suiter, Getting Our Peace Kicks On Route 66

[Richardo]

7. Eerily prescient quote from Mark Twain

We were to relieve them from Spanish tyranny to enable them to set up a government of their own, and we were to stand by and see that it got a fair trial. It was not to be a government according to our ideas, but a government that represented the feeling of the majority of the Filipinos, a government according to Filipino ideas. That would have been a worthy mission for the United States. But now -- why, we have got into a mess, a quagmire from which each fresh step renders the difficulty of extrication immensely greater.

On his return from the Philippines, in the New York World (London, October 6, 1900)

[Aristus]

8. "It's written in the starlight,

and every line in your palm: 'We're fools to make war on our brothers in arms.'"

Thanks, Mark Knopfler.

[Snow]

9. Oooh, there're some dandies out there...

"I deplore two principles in religion,
obedience upon authority without conviction
and destroying them that differ with me for Christ's sake."
William Penn

"Peace is maintained by justice,
which is a fruit of government,
as government is from society,
and society from consent."
also William Penn

When Cromwell pressured George Fox to take sides in the English Civil War, he answered that he tried to "live in the Life and Power that takes away the occasion for war."

[Kamika]

10. Patton

You don't win a war by dying for your country, you win by making the other miserable son of a bitch die for HIS country

[everythingsxen]

12. LOL

See my list below.. ya beat me to the punch though.. good show! :D

[Kamika]

13. hehe

But you have the real quote though, mine's just from memory

[everythingsxen]

11. A few..

No poor bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making other bastards die for their country. George S. Patton, General

Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed. Winston Churchill, Sir

The Americans will always do the right thing... After they've exhausted all the alternatives. Winston Churchill, Sir

Every major horror of history was committed in the name of an altruistic motive. Ayn Rand

I don't know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. Albert Einstein

If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war. Pentagon official, on why US military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War

There never was a good war, or a bad peace. Benjamin Franklin

And to top it off......

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind. John F. Kennedy

[FunBobbyMucha]

14. "The Vietcong never did anything to me."

--Cassius Clay, on his decision to avoid Vietnam

Also,

"So we are told this is the Golden Age, but Gold is the reason for the wars we wage." --U2, New Year's Day

[tom_paine]

15. It's up to me to bring up True American Hero Gen. Smedley Butler

“War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.

"It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism."
--Gen. Smedley Butler, the Patriot who helped foil the Busheviks (Prescott himself stayed out of the limelight, as Bushes are wont to do) in their attempt to overthrow FDR in 1933-4
=====================================================

And, of course, this one from a man who had seen more war and death than any of us would ever care to imagine:

"There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but boys, it is all hell."
-Gen. William T. Sherman, Columbus, Ohio, August 11, 1880

[Red_Storm]

16. Two................

"Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding"

- Ralph Waldo Emerson -



"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired is, in the final sense, a theft from those who are hungry and not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children...........This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."

- General Dwight D. Eisenhower -

[Rowdyboy]

17. "They gave me a medal for killing two men

and a discharge for loving one"....Sgt Leonard Matlovich

[proud patriot]

18. The Prayer of Peace

Not sure who wrote it , but I like it none the less .

The Prayer of Peace

Lord make me an instrument of your peace

where there is hatred , let me sow love

where there is injury , pardon

where there is doubt , faith

where there is despair , hope

where there is darkness , light

where there is saddness , joy

[bloom]

21. ...found in searching...

(con't)

Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled
As to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.



"According to Father Kajetan Esser, OFM, the author of the critical edition of St. Francis's Writings, the Peace Prayer of St. Francis is most certainly not one of the writings of St. Francis. This prayer, according to Father Schulz, Das sogennante Franziskusgebet. Forshungen zur evangelishen Gebetslitteratur (III), in Jahrbuch fur Liturgik und Hymnologie, 13 (1968), pp. 39-53, first appeared during the First World War. It was found written on the observe of a holy card of St. Francis, which was found in a Normal Almanac. The prayer bore no name; but in the English speaking world, on account of this holy card, it came to be called the Peace Prayer of St. Francis."

Many attribute it to St. Francis (wrongly - I guess).

[proud patriot]

26. Hey thanks bloom

I have a little plack w/ it .

[markses]

19. Open up the flexies, watch 'em pee. Grease one.

Double back and get the caribou...

[bloom]

20. Found this (more like an essay) looking for something else....

We totally oppose all wars, all preparation for war, all use of weapons and coercion by force, and all military alliances: no end could ever justify such means. We equally and actively oppose all that leads to violence among people and nations, and violence to other species and to our planet. This has been our testimony to the whole world for over three centuries.

We are not naive or ignorant about the complexity of our modern world and the impact of sophisticated technologies-but we see no reason whatsoever to change or weaken our vision of the peace that everyone needs in order to survive and flourish on a healthy, abundant earth.

The primary reason for this stand is our conviction that there is that of God in every one which makes each person too precious to damage or destroy. While someone lives, there is always the hope of reaching that of God within them: such hope motivates our search to find nonviolent resolution of conflict ....

There is no guarantee that our resistance will be any more successful or any less risky than military tactics. At least our means will be suited to our end. If we seemed to fail finally, we would still rather suffer and die than inflict evil in order to save ourselves and what we hold dear. If we succeed, there is no loser or winner, for the problem that led to conflict will have been resolved in a spirit of justice and tolerance. Such a resolution is the only guarantee that there will be no further outbreak of war when each side has regained strength ....

The places to begin acquiring the skills and maturity and generosity to avoid or to resolve conflicts are in our own homes, our personal relationships, our schools, our workplaces, and wherever decisions are made. We must relinquish the desire to own other people, to have power over them, and to force our views on to them. We must own up to our own negative side and not look for scapegoats to blame, punish, or exclude. We must resist the urge towards waste and the accumulation of possessions.

Conflicts are inevitable and must not be repressed or ignored but worked through painfully and carefully. We must develop the skills of being sensitive to oppression and grievances, sharing power in decision making, creating consensus, and making reparation.

In speaking out, we acknowledge that we ourselves are as limited and as erring as anyone else. When put to the test, we each may fall short. We do not have a blueprint for peace .... In any particular situation, a variety of personal decisions could be made with integrity. We may disagree with the views and actions of the politician or the soldier who opts for a military solution, but we still respect and cherish that person.

What we call for in this statement is a commitment to make the building of peace a priority and to make opposition to war absolute. What we advocate is not uniquely Quaker but human and, we believe, the will of God. Our stand does not belong to Friends alone-it is yours by birthright ....

Let us reject the clamour of fear and listen to the whisperings of hope.

Aotearoa/New Zealand Yearly Meeting, 1987

[HEyHEY]

22. Churchill had good ones

I'm not pro-war..but let's face Britain was facing a scary situation when he gave his "fight on the beaches speech" I'm sure it helped the country cope.

[Padraig18]

23. From Abraham Lincoln:

"Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so, whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose -- and you allow him to make war at pleasure.

If today, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, 'I see no probability of the British invading us' but he will say to you, 'Be silent; I see it, if you don't.'" --

--- Congressman Abraham Lincoln, 158 years ago

As true today as it was then.

[Richardo]

28. Holy Cripes...what a great find, Padraig18

:scared: :thumbsup:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

24. Lots of great stuff in this thread , Bloom

http://www.democraticunderground.com/cgi-bin/duforum/duboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=32&forum=DCForumID62&archive=yes

In fact, the inspiration for the thread were your B'ton vigils :D

[bloom]

27. Thanks!

:hi:

[bloom]

29. The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference....

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.
There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.
Peace is our gift to each other.



Elie Wiesel (1928-)
New York, Oct.1986

[buddhamama]

30. two

from Peace Pilgrim that i read often and try like heck to live up to. i am inspired by her life and her unconditional love for every being.

"We who work for peace must not falter. We must continue to pray for peace and to act for peace in whatever way we can, we must continue to speak for peace and to live the way of peace; to inspire others, we must continue to think of peace and to know that peace is possible." Peace Pilgrim


"This is the way of peace.
Overcome evil with good,
Falsehood with truth,
And hatred with love." Peace Pilgrim



"We used to wonder where war lived, what it was that made it so vile. And now we realize that we know where it lives, that it is inside ourselves." Albert Camus

"Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity." Buddha

"We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing that we know about living." General Omar Bradley

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it, ALWAYS!" Mahatma Ghandi