“We are not isolationists except in so far as we seek to isolate ourselves completely from war. Yet we must remember that so long as war exists on earth there will be some danger that even the Nation which most ardently desires peace may be drawn into war.”
1930s, Address at Chautauqua, New York (1936)
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Franklin D. Roosevelt190
32nd President of the United States 1882–1945Related quotes
Robert H. Jackson (1892–1954) American judge
Statement by Justice Jackson on War Trials Agreement http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/jack02.htm (12 August 1945) <br class="br">Quotes from the Nuremberg Trials (1945-1946)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) 32nd President of the United States
1930s, Quarantine Speech (1937)
Context: War is a contagion, whether it be declared or undeclared. It can engulf states and peoples remote from the original scene of hostilities. We are determined to keep out of war, yet we cannot insure ourselves against the disastrous effects of war and the dangers of involvement. We are adopting such measures as will minimize our risk of involvement, but we cannot have complete protection in a world of disorder in which confidence and security have broken down.
George Washington (1732–1799) first President of the United States
Fifth annual Message http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washs05.asp (3 December 1793) <br class="br">1790s <br class="br">Source: The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799 Volume 39 (General Index O-Z List of Letters) - Leather Bound
Phil Ochs (1940–1976) American protest singer and songwriter
"We Seek No Wider War" http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~trent/ochs/lyrics/we-seek-no-wider-war.html (1965) from Farewells & Fantasies (1997) <br class="br">The song title alludes to a speech by Lyndon Johnson (17 Februaty 1965), in which he said, referring to the war in Vietnam: "We have no ambition there for ourselves, we seek no wider war." <br class="br">Lyrics
Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor
As quoted in "Is World Peace on the Horizon?", in The Watchtower (15 April 1991)
Chuck Hagel (1946) United States Secretary of Defense
[Chuck, Hagel, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/24/AR2006112401104.html, Leaving Iraq, Honorably, Washington Post, November 26, 2006, 2016-01-03]
2006
“We make war that we may live in peace.”
Aristotle (-384–-321 BC) Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy
“We must cure ourselves of the habit of war.”
Patrick White (1912–1990) English-born Australian writer
Australians in a Nuclear War (1983)
Context: I have derived immense comfort, hope, faith, inspiration from a great American, the Cistercian monk-teacher-activist Thomas Merton. Initially a contemplative religious, Merton's spiritual drive was aimed at halting the dehumanization of man in contemporary society, a sickness he saw as leading to mass violence and ultimately nuclear war. War of any kind is abhorrent. Remember that since the end of World War II, over 40 million people have been killed by conventional weapons. So, if we should succeed in averting nuclear war, we must not let ourselves be sold the alternative of conventional weapons for killing our fellow men. We must cure ourselves of the habit of war.