Philip Noel-Baker Quotes

One cannot abolish only a single weapon, but only war as a whole.

Disarmament has become the urgent imperative of our time. I do not say this because I equate the absence of arms to peace, or because I believe that bringing an end to the nuclear arms race automatically guarantees the peace, or because the elimination of nuclear warheads from the arsenals of the world will bring in its wake that change in attitude requisite to the peaceful settlement of disputes between nations. Disarmament is vital today, quite simply, because of the immense destructive capacity of which men dispose.

Our purpose [is] to invite the present-day civilization to cast aside the staggering burden of armament.

If peace should break out, what are we going to do with all these weapons.

The way to win an atomic war is to make sure it never starts.

Arms control has to have a future, or none of us does.

We must halt the arms race before it halts humanity.

We still have to deal as an organization of labor with the number one problem facing the people of this nation and every nation: that of war or peace; an armament race or disarmament; higher or lower living standards for all the world’s people;

In a nuclear age, each of us is threatened when peace is not secured everywhere.

Disarment ... is a continuing imperative.

There is an urgent need for disarmament of all kinds, but especially nuclear disarmament.

War as Napoleon knew it just not possible any more. However, we're very unlikely to accept or recognize 'world peace' even when we get it.

Do not hide behind utopian logic which says that until we have the perfect security environment, nuclear disarmament cannot proceed. This is old-think. This is the mentality of the Cold War era. We must face the realities of the 21st century. The Conference on Disarmament can be a driving force for building a safer world and a better future.

The Cold War's end pushed disarmament down most leaders' agendas. It's a sophisticated issue, which I think is one reason why it is not so hands-on to many people. It's not visceral. It's not like a starving child.

I most sincerely wish that the world in which we live be free from the threat of a nuclear holocaust and from the ruinous arms race. It is my cherished desire that peace be not separated from freedom which is the right of every nation. This I desire and for this I pray.

We ought to disarm Germany completely.

If men do not now succeed in abolishing war, civilization and mankind are doomed.

Libya is a good example of a country that has come to a realization that weapons of mass destruction threaten more than assure, and I hope that will be followed by others.

Nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation are not utopian ideals. They are critical to global peace and security.

Among pacifists it was above all the English who always insisted on the importance of disarmament. They said that the man in the street would not understand the kind of pacifism that neglected to demand immediate restriction of armaments.

I came here as a practical man, to talk, not simply on the question of peace and war, but to treat another question which is of hardly less importance - the enormous and burdensome standing armaments which it is the practice of modern Governments to sustain in time of peace.

The question of armaments, whether on land or sea, is the most immediately and intensely practical question connected with the future fortunes of nations and of mankind.

We have a moral imperative to keep up the search for something better than mutual assured destruction.

Peace and stability cannot be achieved by means of nuclear weapons.

If mankind hated war, there would be millions of us and only two soldiers.