Militarism Quotes

• We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspiring, Rights, Racism

  Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

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• ...The greatest bulwark of capitalism is militarism.

  Emma Goldman

  Military, Capitalism

  Emma Goldman, Candace Falk (2008). “Emma Goldman”, p.381, University of Illinois Press

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• Watch every tendency towards militarism, for we know that preparation for war leads to war.

  William Mulock

  War, Preparation, Watches

  Said at the opening of the Canadian National Exhibition. The Globe, p. 1, August 29, 1906.

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• A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Change, Uplifting, Spiritual

  Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

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• It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.

  Albert Einstein

  Peace, War, Killing Someone

  Albert Einstein (2015). “Bite-Size Einstein: Quotations on Just About Everything from the Greatest Mind of the Twentieth Century”, p.56, St. Martin's Press

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• Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism... We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Lying, Hero, Racism

  "Beyond Vietnam". Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Speech at Riverside Church in New York City, kinginstitute.stanford.edu. April 4, 1967.

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• The characteristic feature of militarism is not the fact that a nation has a powerful army or navy. It is the paramount role assigned to the army within the political structure. Even in peacetime the army is supreme; it is the predominant factor in political life. The subjects must obey the government as soldiers must obey their superiors. Within a militarist community there is no freedom; there are only obedience and discipline.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Powerful, Army, Government

  Ludwig Von Mises (1985). “Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War”, Libertarian Press

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• Militarism is basically a way of thinking, a certain interpretation of the function of the state; this manner of thinking is, moreover, revealed by its outer forms: by armaments and state organization.

  Christian Lous Lange

  Thinking, Organization, Way

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• You cannot organize civilization around the core of militarism and at the same time expect reason to control human destinies.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Military, Destiny, Civilization

  Roosevelt, Franklin D. (1941). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: F.D. Roosevelt, 1938, Volume 7”, p.564, Best Books on

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• He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.

  Albert Einstein

  Love, Country, Peace

  "Mein Weltbild (My World-view)". Essay by Albert Einstein, 1931.

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• I never intend to adjust myself to the madness of militarism.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Politics, Madness, Global Issues

  Sermon at Temple Israel of Hollywood, delivered 26 February 1965

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• From a very young age, militarism and trying to solve the world's problems through militarism is something that has always resonated with me as being a bad idea.

  Justin Sane

  Ideas, Age, Trying

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• You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.

  Albert Einstein

  Love, Life, God

  Albert Einstein (2017). “Einstein on Peace”, p.581, Pickle Partners Publishing

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• There are two ways of resisting war: the legal way and the revolutionary way. The legal way involves the offer of alternatinve service not as a privilege for a few but as a right for all. The revolutionary view involves an uncompromising resistance, with a view to breaking the power of militarism in time of peace or the resources of the state in time of war.

  Albert Einstein

  Peace, War, Views

  Albert Einstein (2010). “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein”, p.250, Princeton University Press

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• Like a cyclone, imperialism spins across the globe; militarism crushes peoples and sucks their blood like a vampire.

  Karl Liebknecht

  Crush, Ghouls, Blood

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• Our planet is blessed with vast natural treasures. If we use them wisely, beginning with the elimination of militarism and war, every human being will be able to live a healthy, prosperous existence.

  Dalai Lama

  War, Blessed, Healthy

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• Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

  John F. Kennedy

  Inspirational, Peace, Freedom

  Address on first anniversary of Alliance for Progress, 13 Mar. 1962

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• Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man.

  Thomas Tusser

  Peace, Integrity, Patriotic

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• The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Real, Racism, Evil

  "Yes, the Martin Luther King Jr. Estate Approved That Ram Trucks Super Bowl Ad" by April Glaser, slate.com. February 4, 2018.

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  True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.

  Clarence Darrow

  Memorial Day, Peace, Hate

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• I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed, without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today – my own government.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Government, Voice, Violence

  Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

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• The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.

  George Orwell

  Peace, Political Language, Atrocities Committed

  George Orwell, Ian Angus, Sheila Davison (1998). “The Complete Works of George Orwell: I belong to the Left: 1945”

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• Victory or defeat? It is the slogan of all-powerful militarism in every belligerent nation. And yet, what can victory bring to the proletariat?

  Rosa Parks

  Powerful, Victory, Revolution

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• Where else could one find such a perfect combination of American values -- racism, militarism, capitalism -- all packaged in one 'ideal' symbol, a woman.

  Robin Morgan

  Racism, Perfect, Combination

  Robin Morgan (2014). “Going Too Far: The Personal Chronicle of a Feminist”, p.62, Open Road Media

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• The very existence of armaments and great armies psychologically accustoms us to accept the philosophy of militarism. They inevitably increase fear and hate in the world.

  Norman Thomas

  Philosophy, War, Hate

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