War
"Safety from external danger is the most
powerful director of national conduct. Even the ardent love of liberty will,
after a time, give way to its dictates. The violent destruction of life and
property incident to war, the continual effort and alarm attendant on a state of
continual danger, will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for
repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil
and political rights. To be more safe, they at length become willing to run the
risk of being less free." (Alexander Hamilton, as quoted in W. Cleon
Skousen’s The Making of America, p. 237)
A
well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country;
but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to
render military service in person." - James Madison
“They
that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” - Benjamin Franklin
"Probably, no nation is rich enough
to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have
both." ~Abraham Flexner
"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." ~Abraham
Lincoln
"Force is all-conquering, but its
victories are short-lived." ~Abraham Lincoln
"America will never be destroyed from
the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we
destroyed ourselves." ~Abraham Lincoln
"Nothing will end war unless the
people themselves refuse to go to war." ~Albert Einstein
"Those who stand for nothing fall for
anything." ~Alexander Hamilton
"O peace! how many wars were waged in
thy name." ~Alexander Pope
"No matter that patriotism is too
often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising
remain the true duty of patriots." ~Barbara Ehrenreich
"Wars are not paid for in wartime,
the bill comes later." ~Benjamin Franklin
"There never was a good war or a bad
peace." ~Benjamin Franklin
"A highwayman is as much a robber
when he plunders in a gang as when single; and a nation that makes an unjust war
is only a great gang." ~Benjamin Franklin
"We Americans have no commission from
God to police the world." ~Benjamin
Harrison About the quote: from an 1888 address to Congress
The voice of protest...is never more
needed than when the clamor of fife and drum...is bidding all men...obey in
silence the tyrannous word of command. ~Charles Eliot Norton
"The failure to dissect the cause of
war leaves us open for the next installment." ~Chris Hedges
"War is never economically beneficial
except for those in position to profit from war expenditures." ~Congressman
Ron Paul
"Setting a good example is a far
better way to spread ideals than through force of arms.: ~Congressman Ron Paul
"We will bankrupt ourselves in the
vain search for absolute security." ~Dwight D. Eisenhower
"I think that people want peace so
much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let
them have it." ~Dwight D. Eisenhower
"Preventive war was an invention of
Hitler. Frankly, I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and
talked about such a thing." ~Dwight D. Eisenhower
"Our government has kept us in a
perpetual state of fear - kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor -
with the cry of grave national emergency." ~General Douglas MacArthur
"Always there has been some terrible
evil at home or some monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if
we did not blindly rally behind it." ~General Douglas MacArthur
"There are only two things we should
fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights.
War for any other reason is simply a racket." ~General Smedley Butler
"The nationalist not only does not
disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, he has a remarkable capacity
for not even hearing about them." ~George Orwell
"The constitution vests the power of
declaring war in Congress; therefore no offensive expedition of importance can
be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and
authorized such a measure." ~George Washington
"No nation could preserve its freedom
in the midst of continual warfare." ~James Madison
"The power to declare war, including
the power of judging the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the
legislature." ~James Madison
"The means of defense against foreign
danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home." ~James
Madison
"If Tyranny and Oppression come to
this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." ~James
Madison
"It is a universal truth that the
loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real
or pretended, from abroad." ~James Madison
"The executive has no right, in any
case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring
war." ~James Madison
"The constitution supposes, what the
History of all Governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch of
power most interested in war, and most prone to it." ~James Madison
"None are more hopelessly enslaved
than those who falsely believe they are free." ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Mankind must put an end to war, or
war will put an end to mankind." ~John F. Kennedy
"Those who make peaceful revolution
impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~John F. Kennedy
"A nation that is afraid to let its
people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is
afraid of its people." ~John F. Kennedy
"America does not go abroad in search
of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence
of all." ~John Quincy Adams
"This and no other is the root from
which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector." ~Plato
"The spirit of this country is
totally adverse to a large military force." ~Thomas Jefferson
"It would be easier to subjugate the
entire universe through force than the minds of a single village."
~Voltaire
"It is dangerous to be right when the
government is wrong." ~Voltaire
