Elie Ducommun Quotes

War is a beastly business, it is true, but one proof we are human is our ability to learn, even from it, how better to exist.

I know that war and mayhem run in our blood. I refuse to believe that they must dominate our lives. We humans are animals, too, but animals with amazing powers of rationality, morality, society. We can use our strength and courage not to savage each other, but to defend our highest purposes.

Everyone's a pacifist between wars. It's like being a vegetarian between meals.

The belief that we some day shall be able to prevent war is, to me, one with the belief in the possibility of making humanity really human.

Unless now the world adopts nonviolence, it will spell certain suicide for mankind.

The Moral Equivalent of War

I would say it's human nature to be ignorant and go straight to war, but 'Sense8' tries to illuminate the positive side of humanity.

For how many thousands of years now have we humans been what we insist on calling "civilized?" And yet, in total contradiction, we also persist in the savage belief that we must occasionally, at least, settle our arguments by killing one another.

We shall not kill and maybe next time we even won't.

The measure of civilization in a people is to be found in its just appreciation of the wrongfulness of war.

Morality is contraband in war.

War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.

The scenes on this field would have cured anybody of war.

I have this feeling that as time goes on, we're not getting any more civilized, and we should be. We're still running around like the days of Genghis Khan. There are so many important, better things to do and we need to encourage people to reach into the brighter side of humanity and not encourage people to continue to glorify the darker side.

The main force used in the evolving world of humanity has hitherto been applied in the form of war.

'Capitalism' is a dirty word for many intellectuals, but there are a number of studies showing that open economies and free trade are negatively correlated with genocide and war.

We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.

At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.

Thus, it was to seek true civilization and true justice for all the peoples of the world, and to view this as the destruction of personal freedom and respect is to be assailed by the hatred and emotion of war, and to make hasty judgments.

If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.

Even today we raise our hand against our brother... We have perfected our weapons, our conscience has fallen asleep, and we have sharpened our ideas to justify ourselves as if it were normal we continue to sow destruction, pain, death. Violence and war lead only to death.

We will never bring peace at the hands of war. As a species we have to rise above it.

War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.

Fighting is not a man's thing, it is a human thing.

War is the greatest failure of mankind.