Thomas Jefferson Quotes

We have nothing in our history or position to invite aggression; we have everything to beckon us to the cultivation of relations of peace and amity with all nations.

Poor Wilson did not understand that a frontier which is not defended with bayonets, force and honor cannot be secured by any other principle.

In vain do they worship peace at home, who cannot defend themselves against foreigners.

To win the War, to overcome the enemy upon the fields cannot alone ensure the Victory in Peace. The cause of War must be removed. Each Nation's rights must be secure from violation. Above all, from the human mind must be erased all thoughts of War as a solution. Then and then only will War cease.

As one who fought in all of Israel's wars, and learned from personal experience that without proper force, we do not have a chance of surviving in this region, which does not show mercy towards the weak, I have also learned from experience that the sword alone cannot decide this bitter dispute in this land

So far as it depends on the course of this government, our relations of good will and friendship will be sedulously cultivated with all nations.

I am in favor of a foreign policy that will cultivate relations of peace with all nations, and I will never give my influence, either as a private citizen or a public servant, for war, so long as it can be honorably avoided.

We remain at peace with all nations, and no efforts on my part consistent with the preservation of our rights and the honor of the country shall be spared to maintain a position so consonant to our institutions.

A self-respecting nation is ready for anything, including war, except for a renunciation of its option to make war.

The duty of defense is maintain peace and avoid war.

You have repeatedly asserted that you and the German people have no desire for war. If this is true there need be no war. Nothing can persuade the peoples of the earth that any governing power has any right or need to inflict the consequences of war on its own or any other people save in the cause of self-evident home defense.

There is a rank due to the United States among nations, which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure the peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war.

The purpose of our common defense, after all, is to protect our people so that we can enjoy the blessings of peace, faith, freedom, family, prosperity.

We are for peace, but we accept the challenge of the enemy. We will protect our motherland.

On the whole our armed services have been doing pretty well in the way of keeping us defended, but I hope our State Department will remember that it is really the department of achieving peace.

the issue of war or peace is an issue that concerns not only experts on Foreign Affairs but every citizen of the United States.

If America could get along with Russia - and by the way, China and Japan and everyone. If we could get along, it would be a positive thing, not a negative thing.

America's families will be safer in a world where we're strong, where we're engaged, but where we're respected.

I challenge anybody to say that I wouldn't know how to approach foreign policy because, unlike some of the other people, I at least have a foreign policy philosophy, which is an extension of the Reagan philosophy. Peace through strength, and my philosophy is peace through strength and clarity.

The most fundamental purpose of government is defense, not empire.

So long as peace is not attained by law (so argue the advocates of armaments) the military protection of a country must not be undermined, and until such is the case disarmament is impossible.

A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests.

The American people need to tell their member of Congress that we need a strong defense to protect us and to prevent wars. We can't get away with simply leading from behind and gutting our defenses.

The United States is going to defend itself under any circumstances.

If nations could only depend upon fair and impartial judgments in a world court of law, they would abandon the senseless, savage practice of war.