Nancy Gibbs Quotes

Oftentimes, discussion of war gets flattened to a discussion of trauma.

After every war someone has to tidy up.

Rwanda, which is one of the younger independent states in Africa, must be regarded as a model of how great human trauma can be transformed to commence true reconstruction of people. Human trauma can lead to stunted growth and mass withdrawal.

You come back from war, and you have a certain authority to talk about war.

Winning the peace is harder than winning the war.

The concept of military readiness is well understood, but readiness for what happens after the fighting stops is just as important.

For many child soldiers, war and violence are all they have ever known. If we don't take it upon ourselves to show them an alternative, then they're going to be soldiers forever, and they'll continue to be recruited and to participate in violence if another conflict starts five or 10 years down the road.

When you've won the war, you're faced with the problem of winning the peace.

The evils of war are great in their endurance, and have a long reckoning for ages to come.

Perhaps this war will pass like the others which divided us leaving us dead, killing us along with the killers but the shame of this time puts its burning fingers to our faces. Who will erase the ruthlessness hidden in innocent blood?

It was how wars really ended, Dieffenbaker supposed -- not at truce tables but in cancer wards and office cafeterias and traffic jams. Wars died one tiny piece at a time, each piece something that fell like a memory, each lost like an echo that fades in winding hills. In the end even war ran up the white flag. Or so he hoped. He hoped that in the end even war surrendered.

We have won the war. Now we have to win the peace, and it may be more difficult.

Soldiers know what war is like. That's why so many of them turn out to be peacemakers.

A war is only as good as the peace that follows.

There is never any military solution to any problem. Even when you have total victory you still have to go in and talk to people.

In a land where so many have a right to air their opinions and where so many interest are bound to collide and have to be reconciled, unanimity can hardly be expected. We were agreed on the evils but differed on the remedies, and amidst this contention of parties, the very zeal and energy of the best citizens became damaging to the public interest.

Part of ending any war responsibly is to support those who fought it

We've had a difficult legacy of 40 years, and cleaning up is not going to be a one day job. But we are engaged in a systematic effort, we have not allowed formation of new militia groups, and we are reforming the local police systematically so that there won't be abuse.

Believe me, it is much harder to make peace than war.

Both of my grandfathers fought in the Second World War, and my great-grandfather died at the Somme in the First World War. I never truly believed that the War just finished and everyone was happy-clappy, brought out the bunting, and felt everything was okay again. That's definitely not my impression of the fall-out of war.

My calling was first of all to ensure there was peace in the country, because we could easily have gone back to war. In the midst of the country, there were still warlords; there were many child soldiers who had never gone to school - they were part of the social setting - compromises had to be made.

The FARC has given up their arms. They are now a political party. They are now doing politics, which is what a peace process was all about.

When I was growing up reading history books as a young student, it seemed all wars had a winner. Yet in today's wars, it is increasingly clear that no one wins. Everyone loses.

Wars have not solved anything in our region. They have only caused misery, suffering, bereavement, and hatred.

For me, it's not an option to despair. The question is: what can we do to make someone's life better? Take the unimaginable strides made in places like Bosnia, where I cut my teeth, and Rwanda. Their stories aren't perfect, but I wouldn't have dreamt they could happen in a million years.