Please help me find a famous quote

[429CJ]

My local radio station is taking callers about opinions on the anti-war protests tomorrow.

There is a famous quote that says something about there being some things that are worse than war and that the protesters have that right to protest only because better men than they were willing to fight and die for them.

Can anyone direct me to the exect quote?

I hope I am doing this right.

Thanks

[Skooz]

Churchill, to my utter dismay, never said that. The attribution of that excellent quote to Sir Winston is, alas, an urban legend.

Nevertheless, the quote is pretty close to the mark.

[Gritty]

How about this one, even though it is only a partial quote? (edit as necessary).

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past...

...They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power...

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

--Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775

[Skooz]

How about this one:

"I'll moider da bum. " - Heavyweight boxer Tony Galento, when asked what he thought of William Shakespeare

[iamright]

How aboout this, "Peacenics are the parasites of Freedom"

- sign at a support the troops freep

[rbmillerjr]

"pacifists are the parasites of liberty"

Short, radio and telegenic - I forget the author on a brain freeze.

[Positive]

Sorry to throw a monkey wrench into the recollective proscess: ""The man who is not a socialist at twenty has no heart, but if he is still a socialist at forty he has no head." - Aristide Briand (1862-1932), French statesman, Nobel winner

[groanup]

"We sleep soundly in our beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf."

C.S. Lewis?

[rbmillerjr]

Nice one, but I think we are still boycotting French product.

[Positive]

"We make war that we may live in peace."
-- Aristotle (384-322 BC), Greek philosopher

[Positive]

"People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election."
-- Prince Otto (Eduard Leopold) von Bismarck (1815-98), Creator and first chancellor of the German Empire

[Skooz]

Some very nice quotes here.

[independentgrrl]

Regardless of the quote- the comment is incorrect. Our right to protest is inalienable right bestowed upon all men by God. No one dies to bestow rights on others.

True, however, it is a fact that a few die so that the many may continue to exercise those rights.

[Positive]

"I worked night and day for twelve years to prevent the war, but I could not. The North was mad and blind, would not let us govern ourselves, and so the war came."
-- Jefferson Davis, Only President of the Confederacy

[mdittmar]

This one may be appropriate "at this juncture":

It is the soldier, not the reporter Who has given us freedom of the PRESS.

It is the soldier, not the poet, Who has given us freedom of SPEECH.

It is the soldier, not the campus ORGANIZER, Who has given us the freedom to DEMONSTRATE

It is the soldier, not the lawyer, Who has given us the right to a FAIR TRIAL.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, Serves under the flag And whose coffin is draped by the flag, Who gives the protester the right to burn the flag.

Father D. E. O'Brien

[kaylar]

I don't know how accurate this is, but these guys tried to track the quote down. Here's their results:

"If you are under thirty and are not a socialist you have no heart. If you are over thirty and still a socialist, you have no brain..."

This is an updated variation of an apparently ever-relevant opinion, first quoted by Guisot, a French monarchist statesman under Louis Philippe:

Not to be a republican at twenty is proof of want of heart; to be one at thirty is proof of want of head. -Francois Guisot (1787-1874)

which was later changed by Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929) into:

Not to be a socialist at twenty is proof of want of heart; to be one at thirty is proof of want of head.

[Positive]

"The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art…. If you try to run away from it, if you are scared to go to the brink, you are lost."
-- John Foster Dulles (1888-1959), American Republican diplomat, politician, US Secretary of State

[Positive]

"I don't know what kind of weapons will be used in the third world war, assuming there will be a third world war. But I can tell you what the fourth world war will be fought with -- stone clubs."
-- Albert Einstein (1875-1955), German-born American theoretical physicist, theories of relativity, philosopher

[Positive]

"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), 34th US President, Republican

[Skooz]

Oh, what the heck. I'll take credit for it.

"If you are not a liberal at 20, you have no heart.
If you are not a conservative at 40, you have no head."
---------Skooz

[Positive]

"The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike at him as hard as you can and as often as you can, and keep moving on."
-- Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85), 18th US President, American civil war general (Union)