Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Oscar Arias

Quote by Oscar Arias

“I am not a pacifist, however I do believe that the U.S. tends to resort to force too quickly. I am not referring only to the current administration; the same thing happened in the Balkans, and on other occasions.”

Quote by Oscar Arias

Create image

Author

Oscar Arias

Oscar Arias is a former President of Costa Rica, born on September 13, 1940. He served as the President of Costa Rica from 1986 to 1990 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in promoting peace in Central America. more

You May Also Like

“Action had to be taken in response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, but I am very concerned about the current administration's rhetoric and apparent zeal to expand military action to other places. I'm afraid that terrorism is being used as an excuse, not only for possible military action in such places as Iraq, Iran, and the Philippines, but also for exorbitant increases in defense spending that have nothing to do with terrorism.”

ActionTakenMilitaryConcernedResponseExcuseTerrorismTerroristSeptemberRhetoricZealSeptember 11
Author:Oscar Arias
Create image

“The best way to perpetuate poverty is spending on arms, and poverty itself is a form of violence. The wealthy industrialized countries have been too slow to recognize this. I hope that in this new century and new millennium, the world will learn that if you want peace, you must prepare for peace, plan for peace, work for it, and comply with its dictates. Lasting peace will never be achieved with the instruments of war.”

WorldWarCountryPovertyViolenceWealthy
Author:Oscar Arias
Create image

“I have to believe in the possibility of peace, because the alternative is to accept the inevitability of continual war, and of always living in fear. It doesn't have to be that way. However, there are no simple solutions, and I am not the possessor of a magic formula for peace. All I can say is that for peace to succeed it requires perseverance, patience, humility, compromise, and commitment, from all parties.”

BelieveWarSimplePartyAcceptingMagicPossibilityHumilitySucceedSolutionsCommitmentPerseveranceCompromiseInevitability
Author:Oscar Arias
Create image

“We are calling on countries that supply weapons to comply with certain restrictions: not to sell weapons to human rights abusers, not to sell them to governments or groups carrying out aggression against states, not to make weapons sales that could disrupt security or development in the receiving region. These are in many ways common sense principles, but sadly, there seems to be very little common sense in the international arms trade.”

CountryCommonSecurityTradeHuman RightsCommon SenseAggression
Author:Oscar Arias
Create image

“A weird theory I have is we come from a suppressed culture. Ireland is one of the most invaded countries ever. I think the British started it very early, it could be like 800 that decided to come and show us out; and the Danes in the north. We've had a tough time and pretty much a similar culture would be the Jewish culture; they had a pretty hard time. They were being kicked around for a long, long time.”

ThinkingLongCountryCultureToughHard TimesIrelandTough Times
Author:Gavin Friday
Create image