QUOTABLES
Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. - Benjamin Franklin
We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in
which we really stop to look fear in the face ... we must do that which we
think we cannot/
Eleanor Roosevelt,
I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man should witness: Gas chambers built my learned engineers, children poisoned by educated physicians, infants killed by trained nurses. Women and babies shot and buried by high school and college graduates. So I am suspicious of education. My request is: Help your students become more human. Your efforts should never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmans. Reading, writing and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make children more humane ( In Teacher and Child/ Haim Ginott)
Unless you become more watchful in
your States and check this spirit of monopoly and thirst for exclusive
privileges, you will in the end find that the most important powers of
Government have been given or bartered away, and the control of your dearest
interests have been passed into the hands of these corporations.
-- Andrew Jackson, farewell address, 04 March 1837
Our government has kept us in a
perpetual state of fear. Kept us in a
continuous stampede of patriotic fervor.with
the cry of grave national
emergency. Always there has been some terrible evil at home or
some
monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not
blindly rally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant funds demanded.
Yet, in retrospect, these disasters seem never to have happened, seem
never to have been quite real/
MacArthur,
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, ed. Vorin
E. Whan, Jr. (New York,
1965). MacArthur, A Soldier Speaks, p. 333.
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on
military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching
spiritual death/
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, April 4, 1967
Our lives begin to end
the day we become silent about things that matter."
--MLK
Should any political party attempt
to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws
and farm programs, you would not hear of that
party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of
course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are ...
This is what we are about: We
plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water the seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing
that.
This enables us to do something and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders -
ministers not messiahs
We are prophets of a future not our own
-Oscar Romero
Former Archbishop of
You never develop a true sense of
confidence if you only set out to do
what you know you already can. ~Unknown
Nobody has a more sacred
obligation to obey the law than those who make the
law."
--Sophocles
Man has no right to kill his
brother. It is no excuse that he does so in uniform: he only adds the infamy of
servitude to the crime of murder/ Percy Shelley
When I despair, I remember that
all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been
tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end
they always fall. Think of it - always.~ Mahatma
Gandhi~
Whether the mask is labeled fascism, democracy, or dictatorship of the proletariat, our great adversity remains The Apparatus - the bureaucracy, the police, the military. Not the one facing us across the frontier or the battle lines, which is not so much our enemy as our brothers' enemy but the one that calls itself our protector and makes us its slaves. No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this Apparatus, and to trample under foot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others/ Simone Weil, 1933
Although tyranny, because it needs
no consent, may successfully rule foreign peoples, it can stay in power only if
it destroys first of all the national institutions of its own people
Hannah Arendt,
The Origins of Totalitariansm
(1951)
American imperialism used to be a
fiction of the far-left imagination; now it is an uncomfortable fact of life
Madeline Bunting, English journalist
We must not think that our love
has to be extraordinary. But we do need to love without getting tired. How does
a lamp burn? Through the continuous input of small drops of
oil. These drops are the small things of daily life: faithfulness, small
words of kindness, a thought for others, our way of being quiet, of looking, of
speaking, and of acting. They are the true drops of love that keep our lives
and relationships burning like a lively flame./
Mother Teresa
Peace...will require...greater understanding and respect for differences within and across national boundaries. We humans do not have the luxury any longer of indulging our prejudices and ethnocentrism. They are anachronisms of our ancient past. The worldwide historical record is full of hateful and destructive behavior based on religious, racial, political, ideological, and other distinctions - holy wars of one sort or another. Will such behavior in the next century be expressed with weapons of mass destruction? If we cannot learn to accommodate each other respectfully in the twenty-first century, we could destroy each other at such a rate that humanity will have little to cherish/ The Carnegie Commission
This we know: earth does not
belong to man, man belongs to the earth.
All things are connected like the blood that unites us all.
Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a
strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself./
Chief Seattle
A Native American grandfather
talking to his young grandson tells the
boy he has two wolves inside of him struggling with each other. The
first is the wolf of peace, love and
kindness. The other wolf is fear,
greed and hatred. "Which wolf will win, grandfather?" asks the
young
boy. "Whichever one I feed," is the reply.
If only for half an hour a day, a child should do something serviceable to the community./ George Bernard Shaw
Failure after long perseverance is much grander than never to have a striving good enough to be called a failure./ George Eliot
Children have more need of models than critics./ Joseph Joubert
If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist
had forty people in his office at one
time, all of who had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be
there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist,
without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence
for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom
teacher's job./ Donald D. Quinn
Modern cynics and skeptics...see
no harm in paying those to whom they
entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than they entrust the
care of their plumbing./ John F. Kennedy
"A church which cannot take a
firm stand against war
is a church which does not deserve to be believed."
Harvey Cox, American Baptist theologian at Harvard
Divinity School
A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history. - MK Gandhi
A human being is part of a whole,
called by us the Universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself,his thoughts and feelings,
as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his
consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our
personal desires and to affection
for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this
prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures
and the whole of nature in its beauty. /Albert Einstein, 1930
"Our schoolbooks glorify war
& conceal its horrors. They indoctrinate
children with hatred. I would rather teach peace rather than war, love
rather than hate . . . . People should continue to fight but they
should fight for things worthwhile, not imaginary geographical lines,
racial prejudices and private greed draped in the colors of
patriotism. Their arms should be weapons of the spirit, not shrapnel
and tanks." ---Albert Einstein
I spent 33 years in the Marines
...most of my time being a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall
Street & the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism...I helped
purify
oil interests in 1914. I brought light to the
Why is killing one person murder, but killing thousands is foreign policy?
It is from numberless diverse acts
of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a person stands
up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against
injustice,[s]he sends forth a tiny ripple ofhope, and
crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring,those ripples build a current which can sweep down
the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. - Robert F. Kennedy,
"Thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men... But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy father which is in secret" Matthew 6:5-6
Any man who has the brains to think and the nerve to act for the benefit of the people of the country is considered a radical by those who are content with stagnation and willing to endure disaster / William Randolph Hearst, American newspaper publisher (1863-1951).
When a stupid man does something he's ashamed of, he claims it as his duty/ George Bernard Shaw
The cause of violence is not ignorance. It is self-interest/ William Sloan Coffin
We tend to hold certainty dearer than truth. / William Sloan Coffin
Only reverance can restrain violence - reverance for human life and the environment /William Sloan Coffin
God has the authority to end life; humans have the power to do it/ William Sloan Coffin
Self-righteousness is the bane of human existence / William Sloan Coffin
Self-righteousness is the
greatest sin of the
Power blinds before it corrupts / William Sloan Coffin
Technology has outstripped moral authority. We’re beginning to live beyond our technological means / William Sloan Coffin
You don’t do something because it works; you do it because it is the right thing to do. The results of your efforts may not be achieved in your lifetime.
Such subtle covenants shall be made Till peace itself is war in masquerade / John Dryden
Our scientific power has
outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men./Martin Luther King, Jr.
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone; it is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists and the hopes of its children / Dwight David Eisenhower, 6-17-61
There is something better than victory, and that is the avoidance of war./ Bertrand Russell
They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore./ Isaiah
Today we are faced with the pre-eminent fact that,
if civilization is to
survive, we must cultivate the
science of human
relationships - the ability of all
peoples, of all kinds, to
live together and to work
together in the same world,
at peace.... /
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Mourn not
the dead that in the cool earth lie....
But rather mourn the
apathetic throng--
The cowed and meek--
Who see the world's great
anguish and its wrong,
And dare not speak!/ Ralph
Chaplin, 1922
The harvest of justice is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace/ James 3:18
Silence is the voice of complicity./ Fr. Bruni
Peace comes within the souls of men when they realize their oneness with the universe./ Black Elk
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the
Lord, thoughts of peace and
not of evil, to give you a
future and a hope./
Jeremiah Ch. 29, Verse 11.
If you want peace, work for justice./ Pope Paul
We must proceed resolutely toward outlawing war completely and come to cultivate peace as a supreme good to which all programs and all strategies must be subordinated./ Pope Paul
World Pledge
I pledge allegiance to the world
To
cherish every living thing
To care for earth and sea
and air
With peace and freedom
everywhere/ Lillian Gesner
GOERING ON WAR
"...of course the
people don't want war....Why should some poor slob on a farm want
to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to
come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally the common people
don't want war; neither in Russia nor in
Hermann Goering, Reichsmarschall and Lufwaffe-Chief, & President of the
Reichstag during the reign of Hitler.
From Gilbert, G.M. (1947). Nurenberg diary.
"The art of leadership ...
consists in consolidating the attention of the people against a single
adversary and
taking care that nothing will split up that attention.... The leader of genius
must have the ability to make
different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category." /
Adolf Hitler
"What luck for the rulers that men do not think." /Adolf Hitler
During our stay on this
planet, for ninety or a hundred years at most,
we must try to do something good, something useful with our lives.
By trying to be at peace with ourselves we can help others to share
that peace. If we can contribute to other people’s happiness, we
will find the true goal, the true meaning of life.
/ H.H. Dalai Lama
A man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him, that of plants and animals, as that of his fellow men, and when he devotes himself to all life that is in need of help./ Albert Schweitzer
..rather than punishing individuals for their crimes we should destroy the social conditions which engender crime, and give to each individual the scope he needs in society in order to develop his life /I. Harris
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others? /Martin Luther King, Jr.
The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed/ Steven Biko
The moment your heart stops burning with love, those beside you will die of cold/ Mauric
You must be the change you want to see in the world/ Mahatma Gandhi
Cynicism is not the weapon that will rebuild the world/ Paulo Freire
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."/ Margaret Meade
This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of the herd nature, the military system, which I abhor. That a man can take pleasure in marching in formation to the strains of a band is enough to make me despise him. He has only been given his big brain by mistake; a backbone was all he needed. This plague-spot of civilzation ought to be abolished with all possible speed." (Albert Einstein,The World As I See It_ , 1949, p. 4)
THE PARADOX :
The paradox of our time in
history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers;Wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend
more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.We
have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we
have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more
experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness. We have
multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too
seldom and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life;
We've added years to life, not life to years.We've
been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the
street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner
space; We've cleaned up the air but polluted the soul: We've split the atom,
but not our prejudice; We have higher incomes, but lower morals; We've become
long on quantity, but short on quality.These are the
times of tall men, and short
character; steep profits, and shallow relationships.These
are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less
fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.These
are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes.
It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the
stockroom; a time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when
you can choose either to make a difference, or to just hit delete/ Author
Unknown
Wars can be prevented just as
surely as they can be provoked, and we who fail to prevent them, must share the
guilt for the dead./ General Omar Bradley
"When words become unclear,
I shall focus on photographs.
When images become inadequate,
I shall be content with silence."
-- Ansel Adams, Photographer
_ _ _
"I should like to love my
country and still love justice."
-- Albert Camus
_ _ _
"You must be the change you
wish to see in the world."
"Use truth as your anvil, nonviolence as your hammer,
and anything that does not stand the test when it is
brought to the anvil of truth, reject it." "Recall the face
of the poorest and most helpless person you have ever
seen, and ask yourself if the next worldly action that you
contemplate is going to be of any use to that person."
-- Mohandas Karamchand 'Mahatma' Gandhi (3 quotes)
_ _ _
"In the big lie, there is
always a certain force of credibility.
The broad masses of a nation are always more deeply corrupted
in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously
or voluntarily. Thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds,
they more readily fall victim to the big lie than the small lie,
since they themselves often tell small lies in small matters,
but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods."
-- Adolf Hitler, from 'Mein Kampf' ('My Struggle')
_ _ _
"The lie can be maintained
only for such time as the State
can shield the people from the political, economic, and/or
military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally
important for the State to use all its powers to repress dissent,
for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie -- and thus by
extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the State."
-- Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Propaganda Minister
_ _ _
Intentional Shalom
by John Wilmerding
October 25, 2003
We are simple people;
people of loving peace,
singing one another
an entirely new song.
Living in a new way,
we transform our own lives
into love, into grace
into deep compassion.
Going out in the world,
touching other people,
we resonate and pray;
we energize with love.
Seeing absence of love,
we reflect in silence.
Struggling within ourselves;
we can comprehend it.
Then we engage ourselves
we know we can change it
Intentional Shalom
Transformative Power
Pulsating energy,
we thus transform ourselves
into agents of peace,
justice, change, and mercy.
When we become many,
we true agents of peace,
our very lives transformed,
then war will disappear.
[Paraphrased from the words of Osho
from volume II of his 'Zen: The Path of Paradox']
_ _ _
"Act as if the principle by
which you act
were about to be turned into
a universal law of nature."
-- Immanuel Kant, Philosopher
"Never doubt that a small
group
of thoughtful, committed people
can change the world. Indeed,
it's the only thing that ever has."
-- Anthropologist Margaret Mead
_ _ _
"The men that American people
admire most extravagantly
are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently
are those who try to tell them the truth." -- H. L. Mencken
_ _ _
"I knew that I could never
again raise my voice against
the violence of the oppressed in the ghettoes without
having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of
violence in the world today -- my own government.
-- The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
_ _ _
Individuals have global moral
obligations which
transcend national obligations of obedience; they
must sometimes violate domestic laws to prevent
crimes against peace, justice and all of humanity.
-- 1950's '
_ _ _
"I want to stay as close to
the edge as I can ...
Out on the edge, you can see all kinds of things
you can't see from the center."
-- Kurt Vonnegut, Author
“Nothing is plainer than that the
sympathy with war is a juvenile and temporary state.”
(from Emerson’s 1838 lecture called “War”)