I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men coughing out their gassed lungs. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. I have seen 200 limping, exhausted men come out of line—the survivors of a regiment of 1,000 that went forward 48 hours before. I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a deep disdain for war and highlights its devastating effects on humanity.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's quote vividly illustrates the horrific realities of war through personal observations of its brutality and the suffering it inflicts on soldiers, civilians, and families. By detailing the physical and emotional toll of conflict, he conveys a powerful anti-war sentiment and advocates for peace, emphasizing the need to recognize the agony and devastation caused by warfare.
In practice
This quote can be used during a speech advocating for peace and conflict resolution.
There has been one persistent theme through all Axis propaganda. This theme has been that Americans are admittedly rich, that Americans have considerable industrial power - but that Americans are soft and decadent, that they cannot and will not unite and work and fight. ... Let them tell that to the Marines!
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
A war of ideas can no more be won without books than a naval war can be won without ships. Books, like ships, have the toughest armor, the longest cruising range, and mount the most powerful guns.
Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
A world turned into a stereotype, a society converted into a regiment, a life translated into a routine, make it difficult for either art or artists to survive. Crush individuality in society and you crush art as well. Nourish the conditions of a free life and you nourish the arts, too.
No soldier outlives a thousand chances. But every soldier believes in Chance and trusts his luck.
There is something magical about running; after a certain distance, it transcends the body. Then a bit further, it transcends the mind. A bit further yet, and what you have before you, laid bare, is the soul.
The same rebellion, the same impatience, the same anger that exists in the hearts of the dark people in Africa and Asia is existing in the hearts and minds of 20 million black people in this country who have been just as thoroughly colonized as the people in Africa and Asia.
I can't run away when I'm scared. I always have to attack. That's how I deal with seemingly difficult things.
We can make war so terrible and make them so sick of war that generations pass away before they again appeal to it.
I'm not going to sit around and be peace and love with somebody's boot on my neck.
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