War is not merely a political act but a real political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse, a carrying out read more

War is not merely a political act but a real political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse, a carrying out of the same by other means.

And by a prudent flight and cunning save
A life which valour could not, from the grave.
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And by a prudent flight and cunning save
A life which valour could not, from the grave.
A better buckler I can soon regain,
But who can get another life again?

A riot is a spontaneous outburst. A war is subject to advance planning.

A riot is a spontaneous outburst. A war is subject to advance planning.

There is no such thing as an inevitable war. If war comes it will be from failure of human wisdom.

There is no such thing as an inevitable war. If war comes it will be from failure of human wisdom.

If I am asked what we are fighting for, I can reply in two
sentences. In the first place, read more

If I am asked what we are fighting for, I can reply in two
sentences. In the first place, to fulfil a solemn international
obligation . . . an obligation of honor which no self-respecting
man could possibly have repudiated. I say, secondly, we are
fighting to vindicate the principle that small nationalities are
not to be crushed in defiance of international good faith at the
arbitrary will of a strong and overmastering Power.

When war is declared, truth is the first casualty.

When war is declared, truth is the first casualty.

War is the science of destruction.

War is the science of destruction.

If war should sweep our commerce from the seas, another generation will restore it. If war exhausts our treasury, future read more

If war should sweep our commerce from the seas, another generation will restore it. If war exhausts our treasury, future industry will replenish it. If war desiccate and lay waste our fields, under new cultivation they will grow green again and ripen to future harvest. If the walls of yonder Capitol should fall and its decorations be covered by the dust of battle, all these can be rebuilt. But who shall reconstruct the fabric of a demolished government; who shall dwell in the well-proportioned columns of constitutional liberty; who shall frame together the skillful architecture which unites sovereignty with state's rights, individual security with prosperity?

I have always said that a conference was held for one reason only, to give everybody chance to get sore read more

I have always said that a conference was held for one reason only, to give everybody chance to get sore at everybody else. Sometimes it takes two or three conferences to scare up a war, but generally one will do it.