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Wendell Berry Quotes about War

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The most alarming sign of the state of our society now is that our leaders have the courage to sacrifice the lives of young people in war but have not the courage to tell us that we must be less greedy and wasteful.

The most alarming sign of the state of our society now is that our leaders have the courage to sacrifice the lives of young people in war but have not the courage to tell us that we must be less greedy and wasteful.

Wendell Berry
War, Sacrifice, People
Wendell Berry (1993). “Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community: Eight Essays”, Pantheon

We do need a 'new economy,' but one that is founded on thrift and care, on saving and conserving, not on excess and waste. An economy based on waste is inherently and hopelessly violent, and war is its inevitable by-product. We need a peaceable economy.

Wendell Berry
Nature, War, Simplicity
Wendell Berry (2001). “In the Presence of Fear: Three Essays for a Changed World”

This massive ascendancy of corporate power over democratic process is probably the most ominous development since the end of World War II, and for the most part "the free world" seems to be regarding it as merely normal.

Wendell Berry
War, Development, World
Wendell Berry (2010). “Bringing It to the Table: On Farming and Food (Large Print 16pt)”, p.85, ReadHowYouWant.com

If we are serious about peace, then we must work for it as ardently, seriously, continuously, carefully, and bravely as we have ever prepared for war.

Wendell Berry
War, Serious, Prepared
Wendell Berry, David James Duncan (2003). “Citizens Dissent: Security, Morality, and Leadership in an Age of Terror”

In the dark of the moon, in flying snow, in the dead of winter, war spreading, families dying, the world in danger, I walk the rocky hillside, sowing clover.

Wendell Berry
War, Dark, Winter
Wendell Berry (2012). “New Collected Poems”, p.122, Counterpoint Press

One cannot be aware both of the history of Christian war and of the contents of the gospels without feeling that something is amiss.

Wendell Berry
Christian, War, Feelings
Wendell Berry (2005). “Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Christ's Teachings about Love, Compassion, and Forgiveness”, p.4, Counterpoint Press

How would you describe the difference between modern war and modern industry-between say, bombing and strip mining, or between chemical warfare and chemical manufacturing? The difference seems to be only that in war the victimization of humans is directly intentional and in industry it is "accepted" as a "trade-off." Were the catastrophes of Love Canal, Bhopal, Chernobyl, and the Exxon Valdez episodes of war or of peace? They were in fact, peacetime acts of aggression, intentional to the extent that the risks were known and ignored.

Wendell Berry
War, Differences, Risk

We seem to know that international wars tend not to stop with their formal "peace treaties." We seem not to have thought enough about the difference between the large official events of political and military history and their overflow both into recognized effects and into the lives of unofficial people who suffer them.

Wendell Berry
War, Military, Differences
Source: www.neh.gov

To hear of a thousand deaths in war is terrible, and we 'know' that it is. But as it registers on our hearts, it is not more terrible than one death fully imagined.

Wendell Berry
War, Heart, Terrible
Wendell Berry (2012). “It All Turns on Affection: The Jefferson Lecture and Other Essays”, p.28, Counterpoint

From the union of power and money, from the union of power and secrecy, from the union of government and science, from the union of government and art, from the union of science and money, from the union of ambition and ignorance, from the union of genius and war, from the union of outer space and inner vacuity, the Mad Farmer walks quietly away.

Wendell Berry
Art, War, Ambition
Wendell Berry (2009). “The Mad Farmer Poems”, p.17, Counterpoint Press

This new war, like the previous one, would be a test of the power of machines against people and places; whatever its causes and justifications, it would make the world worse. This was true of that new war, and it has been true of every new war since... I knew too that this new war was not even new but was only the old one come again. And what caused it? It was caused, I thought, by people failing to love one another, failing to love their enemies.

Wendell Berry
War, People, Enemy
Wendell Berry (2000). “Jayber Crow: A Novel”, Counterpoint LLC

Supporters of the war are constantly asking those who oppose it: Why don't you deplore the wrongs and atrocities committed by the other side? The answer, so far as I am concerned, is that I do deplore the wrongs and atrocities committed by the other side. But I am responsible for the wrongs and atrocities committed by our side. And I am no longer able to participate in the assumption that atrocities committed by remote control are less objectionable than those committed at arm's length. I am most concerned with American obstacles to peace because I am an American.

Wendell Berry
War, Atrocities Committed, Asking

Far from making peace, wars invariably serve as classrooms and laboratories where men and techniques and states of mind are prepared for the next war.

Wendell Berry
War, Men, Mind
Wendell Berry (2012). “The Long-Legged House”, p.81, Counterpoint Press

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