Michael Spence Quotes

It took us 50 months in Germany, post World War II to go from the end of the war to a national election.

Sure we won the war, but the peace we’re losing badly.

We're still eating the leftovers of World War II.

The magic was in the Marshall Plan itself. It provided an opportunity for appealing and constructive work. In a sense, the mission chiefs were given the opportunity to help act as architects for the new Europe that was envisioned.

Once the violence has ceased, the US should immediately call on the World Bank and other international institutions to convene a donors conference to rebuild Lebanon's shattered infrastructure.

I would love to see the French spending money to restore Iraq.

The UN could help the Iraqi government get on its feet and help the United States withdraw a bit more.

I don't want Burma to be a basket case forever.

After a big war a nation doesn't want another for a generation or more.

The Iraqis need help establishing a government. We have to provide them with security.

The American people want peace. They have long since ceased to talk of a hard or a soft peace for Germany.

The bottom line is that after we defeat the armed forces of Iraq, that we will want to and need to provide stability throughout that country.

I don't think the Palestinian people or Afghan children or some other things I'm concerned about are at the top of other people's agendas - not right now, when America is going through such a recession and people are suffering across the board financially. But I think all that will change.

The United Nations was founded 70 years ago, at the end of World War II. Since that time, Japan has steadfastly walked the path of peace and rebuilt a nation. And, since the mid-1950s onward, we have actively worked to share our experience of development with other nations, especially in Asia.

It is our moral duty to intervene today, straight away, to help the Iraqi people in their difficulty. Iraq has to be given back to the Iraqi people

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

The possibility of the United States winning the war and losing the peace is real and serious

We’re not going to need as many people to do peacekeeping as we needed to fight the war.

When I returned to the United States after three years of World War II service, my total assets consisted of one wife, one small daughter, $276 in the bank, and an idea. The idea was for an export business to supply items badly needed everywhere in Europe.

We succeeded in fighting terrorism - we will succeed in reconstruction.

We know how to win wars. We must learn now to win peace.

The war is won, but the peace is not.

We know something of the cost of that war. We were in it from December seventh, '41, till August of '45. Ever since that time, we have been waging peace. It has had its ups and downs just as the war did.

Victory is the most important aspect in Iraq, because victory in Iraq will help us have victory in the War on Terror.

I think that looking forward it's easy to imagine more constructive help for Haiti.