Thursday, 5 February 2026

MORE QUOTES ON WAR

 

                MORE QUOTES ON WAR

1/As a child King Ashoka (died 232 BC), most commonly known as Ashoka the Great, entreated his tutors to relate to him the stories of horrible  wars. He shunned cultural stories which lacked the terrible events of war. But as a king after winning the War of Kalinga which started in 261 BC and he won it, his mind changed, he abandoned his interest in war and he adopted Buddhism as his religion because he had then realized the heavy cost of  winning the victory. Thousands of men were killed and thousands of them were gripped by several types of suffering including widowhood, orphanage and physical damages. Instead of taking interest in military conquests, he now undertook an introspective journey not only human welfare but also about that of  birds and beasts.

 

2. In our times Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi (1869-1948 ) who became known as apostle of non-violence said in Haijan : September 2, 1939: I personally would not purchase my own country’s freedom by violence, even  if such a thing were a possibility. My faith in the wise saying, that what is gained by the sword will also be lost by the sword, is imperishable.

 

3. According to Mahatma Gandhi (as he is now popularly known  :When two nations are fighting, the duty of a votary of Ahimsa (non-violence) is to stop the war. He who is not equal to that duty, he who has no power of resisting war, he who is not qualified to resist war , may take part in war, and yet whole-heartedly try to free himself, his nation and world from war. I make no distinction , from the point of view of Ahimsa, between combatants and non-combatants. ----Wit and Wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi.    

 

4. Militarism and warfare are childish things, if they are not more horrible than anything childish can be.  They must become things of the past. ------English writer H.G.Wells (1866-1946).     

 

5.A great war leaves the country with three armies ---an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves.----German Proverb

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G.R.Kanwal

5th February 2026

 

 

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