Albert Einstein: Quotes on War

Albert Einstein quotes on war.
In a couple of days it will be the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The end of World War 1, at this time and date during 1918.
Poppy Day, Remembrance Day.
The War to end all Wars was the current thinking at the time. History has proved this thinking wrong.
Wars have been a permanent part of history and an important part of the formation and development of Nations.
I tried to recall a reasonable period of time during the 20th century that was conflict free, with not much success.
The termination of one conflict was soon followed by another. A different place a different time, with different motives, but with the same results.
I suppose that as soon as one is threatened by force to loss of life, land and property, one defends oneself with equal and or greater force. That is the greater order of things.
Albert Einstein war an anti- war believer, and a bunch of his anti-war quotes that I collected from a number of sources are:


- 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.

- I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

- Force always attracts men of low morality.

- 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 suffice

- Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism - how passionately I hate them!

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

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

- You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.

Nevertheless wars have always been around, are around, and will be around until such time as it progresses that one step too far, and civilization will no longer resemble what it is today.
Etymology, meaning and origin of the word 'war" , click here

Julius Caesar Quotes

Julius Caesar quotes / quotations are limited. There are not many, and, oftentimes I am confused as to which were really Caesar’s and which were William Shakespeare's.

1) “Veni, vidi vici” : I came I saw I conquered. This is a Caesar quote as documented by Suetonius . Details at a previous post.

2) “The die has been cast” : Caesars words on crossing the Rubicon ; Details at a previous post.

3) “Et tu Brute” : And you too Brutus. This is an interesting one, supposedly uttered by Caesar on being assassinated ; Details at a previous post

4) Men in general are quick to believe that which they wish to be true.
(Still working on this one.)

5) It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience
(Still working on this one as well)

6) It is not these well-fed long-haired men that I fear, but the pale and the hungry-looking.
The conspiracy to asassinate Caesar was known well before the time. A number of people had warned Caesar against Brutus, who they believed was one of the main instigators. But, Caesar would not hear of any negative comments implicating Brutus. He believed that he had favoured Brutus in the past at the expense of Cassius, and it was in Brutus’ interest that Caesar should live. Anyhow, the possibility must have stuck in the back of his mind somewhere, as, when rumour had it that Antony and Dolabella were also planning his assination he remarked
"I am not much in fear of these fat, long-haired fellows, but rather of those pale, thin ones",(meaning Brutus and Cassius.) (Plutarch )

7) What we wish, we readily believe, and what we ourselves think, we imagine others think also.

8) Cowards die many times before their actual deaths.

9) As a rule, men worry more about what they can't see than about what they can.

10) I had rather be first in a village than second at Rome.
From Plutarch, that is self explanatory (Page 469)
"We are told that, as he was crossing the Alps and passing by a barbarian village which had very few inhabitants and was a sorry sight, his companions asked with mirth and laughter, "Can it be that here too there are ambitious strifes for office, struggles for primacy, and mutual jealousies of powerful men?" Whereupon Caesar said to them in all seriousness, "I would rather be first here than second at Rome."

11) "Because I maintain that the members of my family should be free from suspicion, as well as from accusation."

12) "I go to meet an army without a leader, and I shall return to meet a leader without an army."
"The sum total of his movements after that is, in their order, as follows: He overran Umbria, Picenum, and Etruria, took prisoner Lucius Domitius, who had been irregularly named his successor, and was holding Corfinium with a garrison, let him go free, and then proceeded along the Adriatic to Brundisium, where Pompey and the consuls had taken refuge, intending to cross the sea as soon as might be. After trying by every kind of hindrance to prevent their sailing, he marched off to Rome, and after calling the senate together to discuss public business, went to attack Pompey's strongest forces, which were in Spain under command of three of his lieutenants — Marcus Petreius, Lucius Afranius, and Marcus Varro — saying to his friends before he left "I go to meet an army without a leader, and I shall return to meet a leader without an army." And in fact, though his advance was delayed by the siege of Massilia, which had shut its gates against him, and by extreme scarcity of supplies, he nevertheless quickly gained a complete victory." Suetonius

I could find detail to those with links and explanations, busy looking for more detail on the others

Image from Wikipedia