Edmund Kirby Smith quotes

Edmund Kirby Smith quotes

last updated: November 28, 2023

“I have broken all ties that bind me to the (U.S.) Army, not suddenly, impulsively, but conscientiously and after due deliberation. I sacrifice more to my principles than any other officer in the Army can do. I would rather carry a musket in the cause of the South than be commander-in-chief under Mr. Lincoln.”
-- Edmund Kirby Smith

#War Quotes #Army Quotes #Sacrifice Quotes

“We cannot have peace if we are only concerned with peace. War is not an accident. It is the logical outcome of a certain way of life. If we want to attack war, we have to attack that way of life.”

Source : "Our Generation Against Nuclear War". Book by Dimitrios I. Roussopoulos, 1983.
“Violence begets violence by whomever used. War is a dirty business and entails the use of degrading means, whoever wages it.”
“No matter what political reasons are given for war, the underlying reason is always economic.”
“Lenin was the first to discover that capitalism 'inevitably' caused war; and he discovered this only when the First World War was already being fought. Of course he was right. Since every great state was capitalist in 1914.”
“This book has been a catalogue of mistakes by politicians, moral and practical disasters which led to wars, enslavement and wretchedness on a scale which no previous age could have dreaded or dreamed of.”
“Well, fancy giving money to the Government! Might as well have put it down the drain. Fancy giving money to the Government! Nobody will see the stuff again. Well, they've not idea what money's for- Ten to one they'll start another war. I've heard a lot of silly things, but, Lor'! Fancy giving money to the Government!”
“I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me and the bankers in the rear. Of the two, the one at my rear is my greatest foe.”
“All's the government should do is keep the taxes and regulations at a manageable rate, keep a decent standing army and get out of the way.”
“Tell you what, if there were gays in the army 'Saving Private Ryan' would have been a hell of a lot shorter film. There is no way it would take gay men three hours to find Matt Damon.”
“...we understand only the individual's capacity to make sacrifices for the community, for his fellow men.”

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