War seems endemic to civilization, and in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria and other places around the world people are fighting right now for some of the same basic reasons they have for millennia. Access to resources often determines the victors in any struggle, but both sides must face deprivations during any prolonged conflict and those hardships tend to be what most observers remember most vividly. Most of humanity’s greatest minds have witnessed war from one vantage or another and few have ever had any accolades to laud on the subject but many have had something to say. Here are a few thoughts from some great thinkers, most who witnessed war in the modern era.

1. “Probably, no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both.” ~Abraham Flexner, American educator

2. “When the rich wage war it’s the poor who die.”~Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher from his play Le diable et le bon dieu

3. “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. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense.” ~Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered this message as part of a speech on peace during his presidency

4. “No matter what political reasons are given for war, the underlying reason is always economic.” ~A. J. P. Taylor, British historian and broadcaster

5. “The 1st panacea of a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the 2nd is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; a permanent ruin.” ~Ernest Hemingway, American writer and world traveler

6. “There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.” ~Sun Tzu, from The Art of War

7. “The basic problems facing the world today are not susceptible to a military solution.” ~John F. Kennedy said this in a speech during a West Point graduation

8. “How is it possible to have a civil war?” ~George Carlin, American comedian

9. “Even the most piddling life is of momentous consequence to its owner.” ~James Wolcott, current American journalist and writer

10. “Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” ~Martin Luther King Jr. said this when speaking of the horrors of the Vietnam War

– Tyson Watkins

Sources: AAVW, IAS, Antiwar, Brainy Quote, Goodreads, EdChange, The Borgen Project Magazine
Photo: The Guardian