What have writers said–in protest of war? Anti-War Quotes

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You’ve heard of the warmongering words from all those proponents of a “good fight”–war, battles, and all that conflict involves. But, if writers have bold words about going to war, there’s also a precedent for the flip side: the anti-war movement. What are your thoughts about war?

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” – Abraham Lincoln

What is our personal responsibility for protecting our freedom, and does war necessarily figure prominently into that mix?

“For me war has become a flat, black depression without highlights, a revulsion of the mind and an exhaustion of the spirit.” – Ernie Pyle

Pyle was an award-winning journalist, who helped to bring the brutal realities of war to readers back home.

“They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason.” – Ernest Hemingway, “Notes on the Next War,” Esquire Magazine, 1935

In the romanticized vision of war, fighting (and dying) can be seen as heroic. Hemingway traveled around the world, and he experienced fights, hunts, and every other form of macho-ism and manly pursuits. Yet, here we get his view on war…

“We must pursue peaceful end through peaceful means.” – Martin Luther King Jr

One of the basics of the anti-war movement is to focus on peace–pursuing it above all else.

“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too.” – Marcus Aurelius

One of the constants in studying history is… We see how often we’ve refused to learn from the past, to find ways to build toward a better future.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

But, it is possible… We can change the world.