
“Violence is stupid. Even as a last resort, it only ever begets more of the same.”
Source: Saga, Vol. 1
Dawn (1884), CHAPTER XXI
“Violence is stupid. Even as a last resort, it only ever begets more of the same.”
Source: Saga, Vol. 1
Source: The Testament of Jessie Lamb (2011), Chapter 10 (p. 75)
“I do not like weapons, Doctor; they are the last resort of faulty diplomacy.”
Source: The Star Beast (1954), Chapter 9, “Customs and an Ugly Duckling” (p. 151)
L 98
Aphorisms (1765-1799), Notebook L (1793-1796)
As quoted in "AK-47 Inventor Says Conscience Is Clear" by Joel Roberts at CBS News (6 July 2007) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ak-47-inventor-says-conscience-is-clear/
Source: The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science (1962), Chapter 5: On Some Popular Errors Concerning the Scope and Method of Economics, § 10 : The Concept of a Perfect System of Government
Context: It is a double-edged makeshift to entrust an individual or a group of individuals with the authority to resort to violence. The enticement implied is too tempting for a human being. The men who are to protect the community against violent aggression easily turn into the most dangerous aggressors. They transgress their mandate. They misuse their power for the oppression of those whom they were expected to defend against oppression. The main political problem is how to prevent the police power from becoming tyrannical. This is the meaning of all the struggles for liberty.
“Threats are the last resort of a man with no vocabulary.”
Source: Lady Knight
1960s, Nobel Prize acceptance speech (1964)
Context: Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time — the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression. Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts… Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
“Designers should only innovate as a last resort.”
Source: Charles and Ray Eames: Designers of the Twentieth Century. 1998, p. 373: Attributed to Charles Eames
1950s, Three Ways of Meeting Oppression (1958)
Context: A second way that oppressed people sometimes deal with oppression is to resort to physical violence and corroding hatred. Violence often brings about momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem; it merely creates new and more complicated ones.