Lyndon B. Johnson Quotes

The atomic bomb means the end of world war.

But the first the general public learned about the discovery was the news of the destruction of Hiroshima by the atom bomb. A splendid achievement of science and technology had turned malign. Science became identified with death and destruction.

The atom bomb is a paper tiger which the United States reactionaries use to scare people. It looks terrible, but in fact it isn't.

The atom bomb was no 'great decision.' It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness.

There is only one thing worse than one nation having the atomic bomb -- that's two nations having it.

Every thinking person fears nuclear war, and every technological nation plans for it.

The lethal possibilities of atomic warfare in the future are frightening. My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children. We were the first to have this weapon in our possession, and the first to use it. There is a practical certainty that potential enemies will have it in the future and that atomic bombs will sometime be used against us.

The papers are full of the atomic bomb [Hiroshima] which is going to revolutionize everything and blow us all to buggery. Not a bad idea.

The lesson of history is when a war starts every nation will ultimately use whatever weapon it has available. ... Therefore, we must expect that if another war — a serious war — breaks out, we will use nuclear energy in some form.

The atomic bomb was the turn of the screw. It has made the prospect of future war unendurable.

The atomic bomb is shit.... It will make a big bang—a very big bang—but it is not weapon which is useful in war.

In 'The World Set Free,' the world's major superpowers attack each other simultaneously.

This is the reality of nuclear weapons: they may trigger a world war; a war which, unlike previous ones, destroys all of civilization.

We are told that the possession of nuclear weapons - in some cases even the testing of these weapons - is essential for national security. But this argument can be made by other countries as well.

World War II, the atomic bomb, the Cold War, made it hard for Americans to continue their optimism.

If we are to be destroyed we will do it ourselves by warfare with thermonuclear weaponry.

Firing off 1,000 or 500 or 2,000 nuclear warheads on a few minutes' consideration has always struck me as an absurd way to go to war.

The decision to use the atom bomb on Japanese cities, and the consequent buildup of enormous nuclear arsenals, was made by governments, on the basis of political and military perceptions.

Had we not pursued the hydrogen bomb, there is a very real threat that we would now all be speaking Russian. I have no regrets.

If you go on with this nuclear arms race, all you are going to do is make the rubble bounce.

The atomic bomb made the prospect of future war unendurable. It has led us up those last few steps to the mountain pass; and beyond there is a different country.

Certainly the existence of these huge nuclear force was important for the ultimate confrontation, let's say, over western Europe. You just can't use them to deal with a situation like Afghanistan.

I can't understand why anyone would want nuclear warheads. If you shoot them off, it's not like you can take over that country-all you do is kill millions of people.

There is no direct evidence that nuclear weapons prevented a world war. Conversely, it is known that they nearly caused one.

No country without an atom bomb could properly consider itself independent.