I
am a
person that at least attempts to learn from the experiences of others,
wisdom
and sense of history. I share a few quotes with anyone that is
interested:
Fifty
years ago President Dwight Eisenhower was confronted with
the invasion of Egypt by France and Britain at the same time Hungary
was invaded by Russia.
Common sense would indicate that all presidents have read the words of
and perhaps learn lessons from previous occupants of the Oval Office.
Perhaps my assumption is incorrect or if they do read history they do
not learn from the actions of past leaders. I looked up quotes from the
man that lead soldiers in one of histories bloodiest conflicts and
later occupied the Oval Office. Perhaps our current president could
learn from a former president and warrior.
“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.”
“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as
one
who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.”
“I like to believe that people in the long run are going to
do
more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people
want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get
out of the way and let them have it.”
“If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed,
clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is
freedom.”
“In most communities it is illegal to cry "fire" in a crowded
assembly. Should it not be considered serious international misconduct
to manufacture a general war scare in an effort to achieve local
political aims?”
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the
acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by
the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise
of misplaced power exists and will persist”.
“May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal
subversion.”
“The problem in defense is how far you can go without
destroying
from within what you are trying to defend from without.”
“This world of ours... must avoid becoming a community of
dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of
mutual trust and respect.”
“Though force can protect in emergency, only justice,
fairness,
consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of
eternal peace.”
“Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with
arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. War settles
nothing.”
“When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell
them
to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate
war.”
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the
acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by
the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise
of misplaced power exists and will
persist."
"We must never
let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic
processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and
knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge
industrial and military machinery of defense with our
peaceful methods
and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. President / Military Leader / World War II
Figure
Born: 14 October 1890
Birthplace: Denison, Texas
Died: 28 March 1969 (heart failure)
Best Known As: Supreme commander of Allied forces in WWII
Quotes of other notable Americans:
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Benjamin Franklin
"Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." -Thomas Jefferson
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the
government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of
taking care of them." -Thomas Jefferson
"It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can
stand by itself." -Thomas Jefferson
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire,
a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should
it be left to irresponsible action." -George Washington
"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."
-Abraham Lincoln
"The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making power to
Congress was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons.
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. This, our Convention understood to be the most oppressive
of all Kingly oppressions; and they resolved to so frame the
Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this
oppression upon us." -Abraham Lincoln
"Those who would deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves;
and, under a just God, cannot long retain it." -Abraham Lincoln
"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men."
-Abraham Lincoln