War

"Bleak are our shores with the blasts of December, Fettered and chill is the rivulet's flow; Throbbing and warm are the hearts that remember Who was our friend when the world was our foe."

"the red father of war who signs his name in the blood of other men"

"I have played straight with the Jews. On the eve of war I gave them a last warning. I warned them that if they again plunged the world into war, they would not be spared this time — that the vermin would be finally exterminated in Europe. They replied to this warning by a declaration of war. . . . We have pierced the Jewish abscess. The world of the future will be eternally grateful to us."

"War, no matter what our intentions may be, brings suffering and tragedy."

"And I should not like to forget the hint which I have already given once before, on 1 September 1939, in the German Reichstag — that should the other world be plunged into a general war, Jewry as a whole will have played out its role in Europe. They can laugh at this today just as they laughed at my prophecies before. The coming months and years will prove that here too I was right."

"I believe that I am today acting according to the purposes of the almighty Creator. In resisting the Jew, I am fighting the Lord’s battle."

"Inquiry shall likewise be made about the professions and trades of those who are brought to be admitted to the [Christian] faith. ... A soldier of the civil authority must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do so if he is commanded, and to refuse to take an oath; if he is unwilling to comply, he must be rejected. ... If a catechumen or a believer seeks to become a soldier, they must be rejected, for they have despised God."

"#:* Clement of Alex. Strom. iv. 7, p. 586.""

"#:* Proclus in Alcib. p. 255 Creuzer, = 525 ed. Cous. ii."

"#:* Clement of Alex. Strom. v. 9, p. 682."

"#: "The passage is restored as above by Bernays (Heraclitea i. p. 34), and Bywater (p. 43), from the following sources:"

"# For what sense or understanding have they? They follow minstrels and take the multitude for a teacher, not knowing that many are bad and few good. For the best men choose one thing above all – immortal glory among mortals; but the masses stuff themselves like cattle. (G.T.W. Patrick, 1889)"

"Artifacts tell us that violent conflict appeared with the very first man. Our early ancestors, having learned to make blades from flint and spears from wood, used these tools not just for hunting, but against their own kind. On every continent, the history of civilization is filled with war, whether driven by scarcity of grain or hunger for gold; compelled by nationalist fervor or religious zeal. Empires have risen and fallen. Peoples have been subjugated and liberated. And at each juncture, innocents have suffered, a countless toll, their names forgotten by time."

"# The best people renounce all for one goal, the eternal fame of mortals; but most people stuff themselves like cattle."

"Τίς γὰρ αὐτῶν νόος ἢ φρήν; [δήμων] ἀοιδοῖσι ἕπονται καὶ διδασκάλῳ χρέωνται ὁμίλῳ, οὐκ εἰδότες ὅτι πολλοὶ κακοὶ ὀλίγοι δὲ ἀγαθοί. αἱρεῦνται γὰρ ἓν ἀντία πάντων οἱ ἄριστοι, κλέος ἀέναον θνητῶν, οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ κεκόρηνται ὅκωσπερ κτήνεα."

"# Martin Heidegger, Parmenides (1942–1943)"

"# See also: πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι, πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς"

"Ils ne passeront pas."

"#* Lucianus, Quomodo hist. conscrib. 2; Idem, Icaromen 8."

"#* Compare Chrysippus from Philodem. P. eusebeias, vii. p. 81, Gomperz."

"From the Rio Grande's waters to the icy lakes of Maine, Let all exult, for we have met the enemy again. Beneath their stern old mountains we have met them in their pride; And rolled from Buena Vista back the battle's bloody tide, Where the enemy came surging swift like the Mississippi's flood, And the Reaper, Death, with strong arms swung his sickle red with blood. Santa Anna boasted loudly that before two hours were past His Lancers through Saltillo should pursue us fierce and fast. On comes his solid infantry, line marching after line. Lo! their great standards in the sun like sheets of silver shine."

"#* Proclus in Tim. 54 A (comp. 24 B)."

"#* Plutarch, de Iside 48, p. 370. Context, see frag. 43."

"War itself is never glorious, and we must never trumpet it as such."

"#* Hippolytus, Ref. haer. ix. 9 (Fragment 53). Context: "And that the father of all created things is created and uncreated, the made and the maker, we hear him (Heraclitus) saying, 'War is the father and king of all,' etc.""

"# War is the father and king of all, and has produced some as gods and some as men, and has made some slaves and some free. (G. T. W. Patrick, 1889)"

"# War is the father and king of all: some he has made gods, and some men; some slaves and some free."

"Πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς, καὶ τοὺς μὲν θεοὺς ἔδειξε τοὺς δὲ ἀνθρώπους, τοὺς μὲν δούλους ἐποίησε τοὺς δὲ ἐλευθέρους."

"Hang yourself, brave Crillon. We fought at Arques, and you were not there."

"The god of war has gone over to the other side."

"Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation—the last arguments to which kings resort."

"The purpose of war is to support your government's decisions by force."

"Hell, Heaven or Hoboken by Christmas."

"Napoleon healed through sword and fire the sick nation."

"The vanquished know war. They see through the empty jingoism of those who use the abstract words of glory, honor, and patriotism to mask the cries of the wounded, the senseless killing, war profiteering, and chest-pounding grief."

"Most of these who are thrust into combat soon find it impossible to maintain the mythic perception of war."

"My men never retire. They go forward or they die."

"Lafayette, we are here."

"Let the only walls the foe shall scale Be ramparts of the dead!"

"Hark! I hear the tramp of thousands, And of armèd men the hum; Lo, a nation's hosts have gathered Round the quick alarming drum— Saying, Come, Freemen, Come! Ere your heritage be wasted, Said the quick alarming drum."

"An hour ago, a Star was falling. A star? There's nothing strange in that. No, nothing; but above the thicket, Somehow it seemed to me that God Somewhere had just relieved a picket."

"They were left in the lurch For want of more wadding—He ran to the church— * * * * * * With his arms full of hymnbooks … Rang his voice, "Put Watts into 'em—Boys, give 'em Watts.""

"It's easier to start wars than to end them. It is easier to blame others than to look inward. It is easier to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path."

"Yes; quaint and curious war is! You shoot a fellow down You'd treat if met where any bar is, Or help to half-a-crown."

"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it."

"The greater the hold of government upon the life of the individual citizen, the greater the risk of war."

"International wars became rare only after 1945, largely thanks to the new threat of nuclear annihilation."

"As an investigative journalist, I have often had to rely on the courageous, principled acts of whistle-blowers. The truth about the Vietnam War was told when Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers. The truth about Iraq and Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia and many other flashpoints was told when WikiLeaks published the revelations of whistle-blowers."

"War itself is not a mere science but a more fickle sort of thing, often subject to fate or chance, being an entirely human enterprise..."

"Wars are not a pub brawl. They are complex projects that require an extraordinary degree of organisation, cooperation and appeasement."