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US Peace Memorial Foundation |
QUOTATIONS
ON THE MONUMENT
(Scroll down to see quotes under
consideration)
The Foundation honors Americans who stand for
peace by publishing the US Peace Registry,
awarding the annual US Peace Prize,
and planning for the US Peace Memorial in
Washington, D.C. The first two projects are
ongoing and well developed. It is now
time to fully develop the concept of the memorial as a permanent stone national
monument engraved with quotes from well-known Americans.
What is the purpose of the Memorial?
The
Memorial will serve as a shared public symbol to remind all who visit – U.S.
citizens and global guests – that Americans value peace. Visiting the monument will be an educational
experience, providing examples of peace advocacy and antiwar actions.
Ultimately, visitors will have the opportunity to recognize and internalize an
important cultural value so that it becomes reinforced as a part of our public
consciousness. The monument will provide
teaching opportunities that could help change U.S. culture by making us more
aware of, and more comfortable with, our rich history of antiwar activity and
peace advocacy. It will be dedicated to
those who have opposed war or proposed peaceful alternatives to U.S. aggression
(Knox
& Wagganer, 2009a).
How will quotations be used on the Memorial?
As the monument is
currently envisioned, twelve walls, or facets, will contain engraved
peace quotes from famous Americans including, for example, Benjamin Franklin, Martin Luther King Jr., Jeanette Rankin, Margaret
Mead, Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, Jane Addams, Ernest Hemingway, and a
variety of U.S. presidents. The first
tier of quotations will be easily visible from ground level, and will include
statements from Americans whose fame and thoughts are likely to stand the test
of time. Quotes from lesser-known
figures may be displayed higher up on the monument, where they could easily be viewed
with a small telescope or binoculars.
How can you contribute to the selection process?
Our
Founding
Members can suggest well-referenced quotations for consideration
and, as a group, help make decisions about the ones that will be chiseled on
the monument and at what level. The
selections will also be included,
with complete references, on
our website and in our publication, the US
Peace Registry. Quotations
must be short, poignant, and memorable
statements made by U.S. citizens (or permanent residents) who
are easily recognized by virtue of their prominent leadership roles, cultural
contributions, and/or historical importance.
The
Foundation is now accepting suggestions and comments from Founding
Members. A formal
selection and prioritization process will be developed once we have the first 50
viable quotations.
If you wish to help our organization make these and
other crucial decisions, and you are not yet a Founding Member, please join us
at www.uspeacememorial.org/Donors.htm. Founding Members have their names
permanently associated with the US Peace Memorial on our website and in
the US Peace Registry;
all names will eventually be electronically accessible at the national monument
in Washington, D.C.
QUOTATIONS UNDER CONSIDERATION*
As new quotations are
referenced and vetted, they will be posted on Facebook: www.facebook.com/USPeace
and www.facebook.com/Peace.Knox,
as well as on Twitter: @USPeaceMemorial
and Instagram: @USPeaceMemorial. Founding
Members are invited to
like/join us on social media to provide comments. The quotations listed below have undergone
initial reference verification and are under Founding Member review and comment
through social media. We look forward to
expanding the
collection and including them in our publication of the US Peace Registry. To send
ideas, please click here.
1. “War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector
enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963).
Kennedy, John F. “Letter
to a Navy friend.” A Thousand Days:
John F. Kennedy in the White House. Schlesinger,
Arthur M. Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
1965. 88. Print.
2. “We
must devise a system in which Peace is more rewarding than War.”
Margaret Mead (1901-1978).
Gioseffi, Daniela. Women on
War: Essential Voices for the Nuclear Age. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988. Print.
3. “It is not
enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice
for it.”
Martin
Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968).
King, Martin Luther, Jr. “Acceptance Speech, Nobel Prize for Peace 1964.”
Nobel Lectures Including Presentation Speeches and Laureates' Biographies
Peace. Vol. 3. Ed. Frederick W. Haberman,
Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing, 1972. Print.
4. “The real and lasting victories are those of peace, and not
of war.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882).
Emerson, Ralph W. The
Conduct of Life: Nine Essays on Fate, Power, Wealth, Culture, Worship, Etc. New York: Scott-Thaw Co, 1903. 225.
Print.
5. “[t]here
was never a good War, or a bad Peace.”
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790).
Franklin, Benjamin,
and Ralph Ketcham. The Political Thought of Benjamin Franklin. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub, 2003. Print.
6. “I
believe that the killing of human beings in a war is no better than common
murder.”
Albert Einstein (1879-1955).
Einstein, Albert,
and Alice Calaprice.
The Ultimate Quotable Einstein. Princeton, N.J: Princeton UP, 2011. 258.
Print.
7. “Strike
against war, for without you no battles can be fought.”
Helen Keller (1880-1968).
Keller, Helen, and
Philip S. Foner.
Helen Keller, Her Socialist Years:
Writings and Speeches. New York:
International Publishers, 1967. Print.
8. “Observe good faith and justice towards all nations;
cultivate peace and harmony with all.”
George
Washington (1732-1799).
Washington, George.
“Farewell Address.” A Patriot's Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories, and
Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love.
Ed. Caroline Kennedy. New York:
Hyperion, 2003. 34-40. Print.
9. “I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its
talons on any other land.”
Mark Twain, pseudonym for
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910).
Twain, Mark, and Jim Zwick. Mark Twain's Weapons of Satire: Anti-imperialist Writings on the Philippine-American War. Syracuse, N.Y: Syracuse UP, 1992. Print.
10. “I
hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.”
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969).
Eisenhower, Dwight
D. Canadian Club. Ottawa, Canada. Jan. 1946. Address.
11. “We
will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.”
Carter, Jimmy. “Nobel Lecture.” Peace
2001-2005. Eds. Abrams Irwin and
Scott London. Singapore: World
Scientific, 2009. 52-61. Print.
12. “Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how
justified, is not a crime.”
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961).
Hemingway, Ernest.
“Introduction.” Treasury
for the Free World, Ed. Ben
Raeburn. New York: Arco, 1946. xiii-xv.
Print.
13. “I'm fed up
to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.”
George
S. McGovern (1922-2012).
Anson, Robert S. McGovern:
A Biography. New York: Holt, Rinehart
and Winston, 1972. 179. Print.
14. “How
can you make a war on terror, if war itself is terrorism?”
Howard Zinn (1922-2010).
Zinn, Howard. “The Uses of History and the War on
Terrorism.” Speech given in Madison, WI.
5 Oct. 2006. Posted in The
Progressive. 17 Dec. 2006.
15. “No
nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.”
James
Madison (1751-1836).
Madison, James. Letters
and Other Writings of James Madison: Fourth President of the United States.
Vol. 4. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1865. 491. Print.
16. “… all
war is a symptom of man’s failure as a thinking animal, ...”
John
Steinbeck
(1902-1968).
Steinbeck, John. Once There
Was a War. New York, London: Viking
Press, 1958. 9. Print.
17. “No, I am not
going 10,000 miles to help murder kill and burn other people to simply help
continue the domination of white slavemasters over
dark people ...”
Muhammad Ali (1942-2016).
Taylor, Clyde. Vietnam and Black America: An Anthology of Protest
and Resistance. Garden City, N.Y:
Anchor Press, 1973. Print.
18. “More than
just an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars - yes, an end
to this brutal, inhuman and thoroughly impractical method of settling differences
between governments.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1882-1945).
Roosevelt, Franklin
D. “[Undelivered] Address written for
Jefferson Day.” Read by Franklin D.
Roosevelt, Jr., 13 April 1945. Radio
broadcast.
19. “A people
free to choose will always choose peace.”
Ronald
Reagan (1911-2004).
Anderson, Martin, and Annelise G. Anderson. Reagan's Secret War: The Untold Story of
His Fight to Save the World from Nuclear Disaster. New York: Crown Publishers, 2009. 386.
Print.
20. “... he who
is the author of a war, lets loose the whole contagion of hell, and opens a
vein that bleeds a nation to death.”
Thomas
Paine (1737-1809).
Paine, Thomas. Collected
Writings. New York: Library of
America, 1995. 165. Print.
21. “From where
the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.”
Chief
Joseph, Thunder Traveling to the Loftier Mountain Heights (1840-1904).
Brown, Mark H. The Flight of the Nez Perce. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,
1971. 407. Print.
22.
“...
as the War Office of the United States was established in a time of peace, it
is equally reasonable that a Peace Office should be established in a time of
war.”
Benjamin Rush (1746-1813).
Rush, Benjamin. “A plan of a Peace-Office for the United States.” Essays,
Literary, Moral and Philosophical, 2nd Ed. Philadelphia: Thomas and William Bradford, 1806. 183. Print.
23. “Peace with
all nations, and the right which that gives us with respect to all nations, are
our object.”
Thomas
Jefferson (1743-1826).
Jefferson, Thomas.
“Letter to Mr. Dumas, March 24, 1793.” The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed.
H. A. Washington, vol. 3, 535. Print.
_____________
Check back
often. As new quotations are referenced, they will
be added to this page and posted on Facebook and Twitter
for Founding
Member review.
*Note
regarding references and context: We
recognize the risk of not taking history and context into account when
reviewing potential quotations. Without
critical analysis, errors in selection could be made. Before any quotation is finalized for
inclusion on the national monument, it will be thoroughly researched and
vetted. The text will be referenced in
Modern Language Association (MLA) citation
style, as is standard practice for speeches, letters, and biographical works. Prior to selection for placement
on the US Peace Memorial, our Volunteer Research Librarian(s) will verify
the authenticity of the quotation by locating it in a primary source. Electronic sources will be verified twice,
with one source being an original print source whenever possible.
US Peace Memorial Foundation, Inc. is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public
charity.
Donations to the
Foundation are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.
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