“The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.”

— Desiderius Erasmus , book Adagia

Adagia (1508)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Oct. 1, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war." by Desiderius Erasmus?

Desiderius Erasmus 36

Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and theologian 1466–1536

Related quotes

“I prefer the most unfair peace to the most righteous war.”

Marcus Tullius Cicero (-106–-43 BC) Roman philosopher and statesman

“The United States while they wish for war with no nation, will buy peace with none, it being a principle incorporated into the settled policy of America, that as peace is better than war, so war is better than tribute.”

James Madison (1751–1836) 4th president of the United States (1809 to 1817)

A paraphrased variant of this seems to have arisen on the internet around 2007: It is ... a settled policy of America, that as peace is better than war, war is better than tribute. The United States, while they wish for war with no nation, will buy peace with none.
1810s
Source: Message delivered to Dey Omar Agha, by Isaac Chauncey and William Shaler , summarizing the Treaty with Algiers (1815) http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/bar1815t.asp, and U.S attitudes and actions in the Barbary Wars, in refusing to pay ransom or tribute to pirates of the Barbary States, as quoted in History and Present Condition of Tripoli: With Some Accounts of the Other Barbary States http://books.google.com/books?id=YMwRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA46 (1835) by Robert Greenhow, p. 46

“Peace is only better than war if peace is not hell too. War being hell makes sense.”

Walker Percy book The Second Coming

The Second Coming (1980)

“Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience.”

Thomas Merton (1915–1968) Priest and author

“To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.”

George Washington (1732–1799) first President of the United States

First Annual Address, to both Houses of Congress (8 January 1790).
Compare: "Qui desiderat pacem præparet bellum" (translated: "Who would desire peace should be prepared for war"), Vegetius, Rei Militari 3, Prolog.; "In pace, ut sapiens, aptarit idonea bello" (translated: "In peace, as a wise man, he should make suitable preparation for war"), Horace, Book ii. satire ii.
1790s