Atomic Bomb Quotes

• Anyone who saw Nagasaki would suddenly realize that they'd been kept in the dark by the United States government as to what atomic bombs can do.

  Lawrence Ferlinghetti

  Dark, Government, Bombs

  69 Copy quote

• Mankind invented the atomic bomb,
  but no mouse would ever construct
  a mousetrap.

  Albert Einstein

  Bombs, Mankind, Mice

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• Dropping those atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a war crime.

  George Wald

  War, Hiroshima And Nagasaki, Bombs

  67 Copy quote

• I think that if the atomic bomb did nothing more, it scared the people to the point where they realized that either they must do something about preventing war or there is a chance that there might be a morning when we would not wake up.

  Eleanor Roosevelt

  Morning, War, Thinking

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• The release of atomic power has changed everything except our way of thinking ... the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker. (1945)

  Albert Einstein

  Lying, Heart, Thinking

  32 Copy quote

• The atom bomb was no great decision. It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness.

  Harry S. Truman

  Strength, Peace, Powerful

  10 Copy quote

• In the end, this is a difficult story to sum up. The making of the atomic bomb is one of history's most amazing examples of teamwork and genius and poise under pressure. But it's also the story of how humans created a weapon capable of wiping our species off the planet. It's a story with no end in sight.
  And, like it or not, you're in it.

  Steve Sheinkin

  Teamwork, Sight, Example

  6 Copy quote

• When you have to deal with a beast, you have to treat him as a beast. It is most regrettable but nevertheless true.

  Harry S. Truman

  Hiroshima And Nagasaki, Beast, Treats

  19 Copy quote

• I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.

  J. Robert Oppenheimer

  Death, Military, Hiroshima And Nagasaki

  Onthe detonationof the first atomicbomb,16 Jul1945.Quoted in Len Giovanitti and Fred FreedThe Decision to Drop the Bomb (1965).

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• The solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind.

  Albert Einstein

  Lying, Heart, Nuclear

  Albert Einstein, Colette M. Kinnon, A. N. Kholodilin, J. G. Richardson (1981). “The Impact of modern scientific ideas on society: in commemoration of Einstein”, D Reidel Pub Co

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• I was against it on two counts. First, the Japanese were ready to surrender, and it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing. Second, I hated to see our country be the first to use such a weapon.

  Dwight D. Eisenhower

  Hiroshima And Nagasaki, Awful, Surrender

  Newsweek, p. 107, November 11, 1963.

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• I do not believe that civilization will be wiped out in a war fought with the atomic bomb. Perhaps two-thirds of the people of the earth will be killed.

  Albert Einstein

  Love, Inspirational, Life

  Albert Einstein (2010). “Ideas And Opinions”, p.118, Broadway Books

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• The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.

  Albert Einstein

  Love, Life, God

  Telegram to prominent Americans, 24 May 1946

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• The atomic bomb is a marvelous gift that was given to our country by a wise God.

  Phyllis Schlafly

  Wise, Country, Bombs

  "Women are the Best Warmakers". "The Day" Newspaper, July 8, 1982.

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• The use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women and children, revolts my soul.

  Herbert Hoover

  Children, Hydrogen Bomb, Soul

  "The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb". Book by Gar Alperovitz, 1996.

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• The only use for an atomic bomb is to keep somebody else from using one. It can give us no protection - only the doubtful satisfaction of retaliation...

  George Wald

  Giving, Use, Bombs

  "A Generation in Search of a Future". George Wald's speech at an anti-war teach-in at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (March 4, 1969); published in Chicago Journalism Review by Ron Dorfman, May 1969.

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• If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.

  Albert Einstein

  Knowledge, Science, Should Have

  21 Copy quote

• Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey's opinion that certainly prior to 31 December 1945 and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.

  Paul Nitze

  War, Japan, Hiroshima And Nagasaki

  17 Copy quote

• Wars cannot be won by destroying women and children

  William D. Leahy

  Children, War, Hiroshima And Nagasaki

  "Personal Quotes/ Biography". www.imdb.com.

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• The atomic bomb made the prospect of future war unendurable. It has led us up those last few steps to the mountain pass; and beyond there is a different country.

  J. Robert Oppenheimer

  Change, Country, Military

  Commencement address, 1946.

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• The atomic bomb embodies the results of a combination genius and patience as remarkable as any in the history of mankind.

  Bertrand Russell

  Genius, Bombs, Results

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• The Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace. The atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military point of view, in the defeat of Japan.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Military, Japan, Views

  54 Copy quote

• Japan is the only country in the world to have suffered the ravages of atomic bombing. That experience left an indelible mark on the hearts of our people, making them passionately determined to renounce all wars.

  Eisaku Sato

  Country, War, Heart

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• There was no military reason to drop atomic bombs on Japan. They were used as terrorist weapons - killing innocent people to influence other people.

  Harry Browne

  Military, Japan, People

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• The use of [the atomic bombs] at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons... The lethal possibilities of atomic warfare in the future are frightening. My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children.

  William D. Leahy

  Fashion, Children, War

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