“War is mankind's most tragic and stupid folly; to seek or advise its deliberate provocation is a black crime against all men.”

—  Dwight D. Eisenhower

Graduation Exercises at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, U.S. (3 June 1947) http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/all_about_ike/quotes.html
1940s
Context: 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.

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Dwight D. Eisenhower 173
American general and politician, 34th president of the Unit… 1890–1969

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