Bill Moyers Quotes

A sane person doesn't think war is a good idea. I'm not a pacifist. I feel that there are situations where fighting is inescapable, but we don't go looking for those things.

War on the other hand is such a terrible thing, that no man, especially a Christian man, has the right to assume the responsibility of starting it.

The only defensible war is a war of defense.

I’m not opposed to all wars; just dumb wars.

We believe in peace, but we are not pacifists. Sometimes we have to use force

The United States will never take part in an aggressive war.

War should be not a war of choice; it should be a war of necessity. And it should be a last resort.

Nothing can justify war.

I do not believe in terrorism, violence, destruction, murder, pre-emption, or War.

If we justify war, it is because all peoples always justify the traits of which they find themselves possessed, not because war will bear an objective examination of its merits.

What I've learned, and will try to remember from now on, is that defending your country's credibility is never sufficient reason to fight a war.

I feel like war should occur only for the most vital and necessary reasons, and only then.

Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster.

I think, unfortunately, we live in a world where people attack other people and I think a legitimate rationale for war is the saving of human life, the saving of lives of people who cannot defend themselves.

At every step the vast majority have expressed horror at the idea of an aggressive war.

I'm really interested in how conflicts arise and how they reach points of no return. I'm no pacifist. Sometimes force is necessary. But war is a choice.

Today, war of necessity is used by critics of military action to describe unavoidable response to an attack like that on Pearl Harbor that led to our prompt, official declaration of war, while they characterize as unwise wars of choice the wars in Korea, Vietnam and the current war in Iraq.

What is the 'noble cause' for which you sent our country to war?

It is not every cause of war that should lead to war.

The nation is too brave, too strong, too powerful, and too just to engage in an unrighteous and precipitate war.

A rational fear of an imminent danger is said to be a justifiable cause of war.

The utterly fallacious idea at the heart of the pro-war argument is that it is the duty of the anti-war argument to provide an alternative to war. The onus is on them to explain just cause.

Unless a nation's life faces peril, war is murder.

I can't find a reason to be for this war. I've looked, and I can't, so I'm not.

The major wars that the U.S. became involved in are all ethically defensible.