“To-day Europe is neither at war nor at peace, but stands at armed attention…That, in itself, is a sufficiently melancholy, devastating reply to all the efforts of the lovers of peace. But what is much worse is this: peace in some quarters is proclaimed as a bad dream, and war sanctified as an ideal for rational men. As long as the British Empire lasts we will raise our voices against these false gods.”

Speech to the Empire Rally of Youth at the Royal Albert Hall (18 May 1937), quoted in Service of Our Lives (1937), pp. 163-164.
1937

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "To-day Europe is neither at war nor at peace, but stands at armed attention…That, in itself, is a sufficiently melancho…" by Stanley Baldwin?
Stanley Baldwin photo
Stanley Baldwin 225
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1867–1947

Related quotes

John F. Kennedy photo

“In short, we are neither "warmongers" nor "appeasers," neither "hard" nor "soft." We are Americans, determined to defend the frontiers of freedom, by an honorable peace if peace is possible, but by arms if arms are used against us.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

1961, Address at the University of Washington
Context: In short, we are neither "warmongers" nor "appeasers," neither "hard" nor "soft." We are Americans, determined to defend the frontiers of freedom, by an honorable peace if peace is possible, but by arms if arms are used against us. And if we are to move forward in that spirit, we shall need all the calm and thoughtful citizens that this great University can produce, all the light they can shed, all the wisdom they can bring to bear. It is customary, both here and around the world, to regard life in the United States as easy. Our advantages are many. But more than any other people on earth, we bear burdens and accept risks unprecedented in their size and their duration, not for ourselves alone but for all who wish to be free.

Gabrielle Roy photo
G. K. Chesterton photo
Simone de Beauvoir photo

“After wars peace, after peace, another war. Every day men are born and others die.”

Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist, and social theorist

All Men are Mortal (1946)

Abraham Lincoln photo

“Such will be a great lesson of peace, teaching men that what they can not take by an election neither can they take it by a war; teaching all the folly of being the beginners of a war.”

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States

1860s, Fourth of July Address to Congress (1861)
Context: Our popular Government has often been called an experiment. Two points in it our people have already settled — the successful establishing and the successful administering of it. One still remains — its successful maintenance against a formidable internal attempt to overthrow it. It is now for them to demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly carry an election can also suppress a rebellion; that ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors of bullets, and that when ballots have fairly and constitutionally decided there can be no successful appeal back to bullets; that there can be no successful appeal except to ballots themselves at succeeding elections. Such will be a great lesson of peace, teaching men that what they can not take by an election neither can they take it by a war; teaching all the folly of being the beginners of a war.

Scott Westerfeld photo
George William Russell photo

“It was the wise all-seeing soul
Who counselled neither war nor peace:
'Only be thou thyself that goal
In which the wars of time shall cease.”

George William Russell (1867–1935) Irish writer, editor, critic, poet, and artistic painter

The Nuts of Knowledge (1903)

Fortunatus Nwachukwu photo

“Peace that is imposed is only war that is postponed, while peace that is agreed, peace that is reached through dialogue, is lasting peace.”

Fortunatus Nwachukwu (1960) Roman Catholic archbishop

Priests are “first and foremost bridge builders”: Nigerian-born Permanent Observer to UN https://www.aciafrica.org/news/5470/priests-are-first-and-foremost-bridge-builders-nigerian-born-permanent-observer-to-un (18 March 2022)

“Men endured so much for war, but for peace they dared nothing.”

Olaf Stapledon (1886–1950) British novelist and philosopher

Source: The Seed and the Flower

Semyon Timoshenko photo

“Peoples of all the warring countries are trying to put an end to the war, to establish peace. And we believe that they will get peace. And the sooner they get peace the better.”

Semyon Timoshenko (1895–1970) Soviet military commander

Quoted in "The American review on the Soviet Union" - Page 10 - by American Russian Institute - 1938

Related topics