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Quote by Abraham Lincoln

“Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object”

Quote by Abraham Lincoln

Work

Lincoln on War

This book presents a comprehensive selection of Abraham Lincoln's speeches and writings focused on the American Civil War. It includes his perspectives on the war's necessity, its impact on the nation, and his strategies for its conduct. The collection provides a unique glimpse into Lincoln's political thought and leadership during one of the most pivotal periods in American history. more

Author

Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from 1861 to 1865. He was a pivotal leader during the American Civil War, dedicated to preserving the unity of the nation and the abolition of slavery. Lincoln is renowned for his noble character and exceptional leadership. more

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“What kind of victory is it when someone is left defeated? What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy. What is a war criminal? Was not war itself a crime against God and humanity, and, therefore, were not all those who sanctioned, engineered and conducted wars, war criminals? The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. Non-cooperation with evil is a sacred duty.”

“Throughout the history of the United States , war has been the primary impetus behind the growth and development of the central state. It has been the lever by which presidents and other national officials have bolstered the power of the state in the face of tenacious popular resistance.”

“Studies by Medical Corps psychiatrists of combat fatigue cases... found that fear of killing, rather than fear of being killed, was the most common cause of battle failure, and that fear of failure ran a strong second.”

“In reviewing the history of the English Government, its wars and its taxes, a bystander, not blinded by prejudice nor warped by interest, would declare that taxes were not raised to carry on wars, but that wars were raised to carry on taxes.”

“... the United States, for generations, has sustained two parallel but opposed states of mind about military atrocities and human rights: one of U.S. benevolence, generally held by the public, and the other of ends-justify-the-means brutality sponsored by counterinsurgency specialists. Normally the specialists carry out their actions in remote locations with little notice in the national press. That allows the public to sustain its faith in a just America, while hard-nosed security and economic interests are still protected in secret.”

“A time comes when silence is betrayal. That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift, is approaching spiritual death.I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor.”