Use Of Force Quotes

• A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.

  Frank Oz

  Knowledge, Defense, Use

  "Fictional character: Yoda". "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back", www.imdb.com. 1980.

  61 Copy quote

  Show source

• We must begin by acknowledging a hard truth. We will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations, acting individually or in concert, will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.

  Barack Obama

  Acting, Use, Conflict

  Nobel Prize for Peace Acceptance Speech and Lecture, delivered 10 December 2009, Oslo City Hall, Oslo, Norway

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• In some cases, the measured use of force is all that protects us from a chaotic world ruled by force.

  George W. Bush

  Use, World, Force

  Whitehall Palace Address on Iraq Policy, delivered 19 November 2003, Whitehall Palace -- London, England

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.

  David Friedman

  Funny, Peace, Children

  48 Copy quote

• I believe with all my heart that our first priority must be world peace, and that use of force is always and only a last resort, when everything else has failed, and then only with regard to our national security.

  Ronald Reagan

  Believe, Heart, Priorities

  Ronald Reagan during Presidential Debate with Jimmy Carter, www.reaganlibrary.gov. October 28, 1980.

  11 Copy quote

  Show source

• Briefly, the State is that organization in society which attempts to maintain a monopoly of the use of force and violence in a given territorial area; in particular, it is the only organization in society that obtains its revenue not by voluntary contribution or payment for services rendered but by coercion.

  Murray Rothbard

  Organization, Use, Coercion

  Murray Newton Rothbard (19??). “The Anatomy of the State”, p.11, Ludwig von Mises Institute

  14 Copy quote

  Show source

• While I am a convinced pacifist there are circumstances in which I believe the use of force is appropriate - namely, in the face of an enemy unconditionally bent on destroying me and my people.

  Albert Einstein

  Believe, Destroying Me, People

  Albert Einstein (2010). “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein”, p.259, Princeton University Press

  25 Copy quote

  Show source

• Civilization is nothing more than the effort to reduce the use of force to the last resort.

  Jose Ortega y Gasset

  Power, Civilization, Effort

  14 Copy quote

• Force rules the world-not opinion; but it is opinion that makes use of force.

  Blaise Pascal

  Use, World, Opinion

  10 Copy quote

• The intention behind the protective use of force is to prevent injury, never to punish or to cause individuals to suffer, repent or change.

  Marshall B. Rosenberg

  Communication, Suffering, Use

  5 Copy quote

• The punitive use of force tends to generate hostility and to reinforce resistance to the very behavior we are seeking.

  Marshall B. Rosenberg

  Communication, Use, Resistance

  5 Copy quote

• A society that puts equality — in the sense of equality of outcome — ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom, and the force, introduced for good purposes, will end up in the hands of people who use it to promote their own interests.

  Milton Friedman

  Hands, People, Purpose

  Free to Choose ch. 5 (1980).

  62 Copy quote

  Show source

• The only justification in the use of force is to reduce the amount of force necessary to be used.

  Alfred North Whitehead

  Power, Use, Force

  Alfred North Whitehead, Lucien Price (2001). “Dialogues of Alfred North Whitehead”, p.87, David R. Godine Publisher

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• Although violence and the use of force may appear powerful and decisive, their benefits are short-lived. Violence can never bring a lasting and long term resolution to any problem, because it is unpredictable and for every problem it seems to solve, others are created. On the other hand, truth remains constant and will ultimately prevail.

  Dalai Lama

  Powerful, Hands, Long

  8 Copy quote

• The use of force stands in need of control by a public neutral authority, in the interests of liberty no less than of justice. Within a nation, this public authority will naturally be the state; in relations between nations, if the present anarchy is to cease, it will have to be some international parliament.

  Bertrand Russell

  Justice, Liberty, Needs

  Bertrand Russell (2006). “Political Ideals”, p.73, Cosimo, Inc.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Democracy is a form of the state, it represents, on the one hand, the organized, systematic use of force against persons; but, on the other hand, it signifies the formal recognition of equality of citizens, the equal right of all to determine the structure of, and to administer, the state.

  Vladimir Lenin

  Hands, Democracy, Citizens

  19 Copy quote

• The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or the next. It was the deep knowledge - and pray God we have not lost it - that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest.

  Ronald Reagan

  Men, Differences, Profound

  Remarks on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day, delivered 6 June 1984 in Pointe Du Hoc, Normandy, France

  24 Copy quote

  Show source

• In the past, destruction of your neighbour might have been considered a victory, but today we are all interdependent. We live in a global economy; we face problems like climate change that affect us all. The 7 billion human beings alive today belong to one human family. In the context that others' interests are in our interest and our interest is in their interest, the use of force is self-destructive.

  Dalai Lama

  Past, Self, Victory

  6 Copy quote

• The only security for the American people today, or for any people, is to be found through the control of force rather than the use of force.

  Norman Cousins

  Peace, War, People

  4 Copy quote

• The martial arts are based upon understanding, hard work and a total comprehension of skills. Power training and the use of force are easy, but total comprehension of all of the skills of the martial arts is very difficult to achieve.

  Bruce Lee

  Art, Hard Work, Skills

  Bruce Lee (1975). “Tao of Jeet Kune Do”, Black Belt Communications Incorporated

  17 Copy quote

  Show source

• I voted to threaten the use of force to make Saddam Hussein comply with the resolutions of the United Nations.

  John F. Kerry

  Use, Hussein, Resolution

  "Tricky John Kerry" by Robert Novak, www.cnn.com. September 5, 2003.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• And yet even among the friends of liberty, many people are deceived into believing that government can make them safe from all harm, provide fairly distributed economic security, and improve individual moral behavior. If the government is granted a monopoly on the use of force to achieve these goals, history shows that power is always abused. Every single time.

  Ron Paul

  Believe, Government, Moral Behavior

  4 Copy quote

• Let no man posture as an advocate of peace if he proposes or supports any social system that initiates the use of force against individual men, in any form.

  Ayn Rand

  Peace, Philosophy, Men

  Ayn Rand (1963). “For the New Intellectual: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand (50th Anniversary Edition)”, p.47, Penguin

  43 Copy quote

  Show source

• I advocate the use of force to rescue Terri Schiavo from being starved to death.
  I further advocate the killing of anyone who interferes with such rescue.

  Hal Turner

  Use, Killing, Rescue

  6 Copy quote

• No government which governs by the use of force can survive except by force. There is no going back because force begets force and the perpetrators of crimes live in fear that they might become victims in their turn.

  Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo

  Fear, Government, Tyrants

  Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo (2001). “The Road to Freedom: A Collection of Speeches, Pastoral Letters, and Articles from 1997-2001”

  22 Copy quote

  Show source