George Herbert Quotes

A democracy is peace-loving. It does not like to go to war. It is slow to rise to provocation. When it has once been provoked to the point where it must grasp the sword, it does not easily forgive its adversary for having produced this situation. The fact of the provocation then becomes itself the issue. Democracy fights in anger — it fights for the very reason that it was forced to go to war. It fights to punish the power that was rash enough and hostile enough to provoke it — to teach that power a lesson it will not forget, to prevent the thing from happening again. Such a war must be carried to the bitter end.

War destroys, kills, impoverishes. Lord, give us your peace!

What Tully said of war may be applied to disputing: "It should be always so managed as to remember that the only true end of it is peace." But generally true disputants are like true sportsmen,--their whole delight is in the pursuit; and the disputant no more cares for the truth than the sportsman for the hare.

Try to reject war and give peace a chance. Question the powers that be and find out why they make the dubious decisions they do that send young people to war.

I am insulted by the persistent asertion that I want war. Am I a fool? War! It would settle nothing.

Having a spine is overrated. If everybody squealed and ran away, there'd be no more wars.

I don't want to fight any wars; if you can get them off before we get there, you do it, but off they go.

We can make war so terrible and make them so sick of war that generations pass away before they again appeal to it.

We still seek no wider war.

War is never a lasting solution for any problem.

The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.

War makes thieves and peace hangs them.

There was never a good war, or a bad peace.

Everybody wants peace. That's a truism. There is no point in accomplishing through war what you can accomplish through peace.

We should seek by all means in our power to avoid war, by analysing possible causes, by trying to remove them, by discussion in a spirit of collaboration and good will.

If few can stand a long war without deterioration of soul, none can stand a long peace.

What we need is Star Peace and not Star Wars.

I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace.

The only way human beings can win a war is to prevent it.

An unjust peace is better than a just war.

War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.

So I would say God hates war, but God loves every soldier.

You have not been mistaken in supposing my views and feeling to be in favor of the abolition of war.

To go to war against the Turks is to resist God who punishes our iniquities through them.

We have practiced diplomacy since the very beginning of the nation. Sometimes it has not worked, and we've had to go to war. I always believe you should try to find peace and reconciliation before conflict. That has been the approach I've taken.