Words of William Stafford[1] written on —

16 August 1955
“I belong to a small fanatical sect. We believe that current ways of carrying on world affairs are malignant. We believe that armies, and the kind of international dealings based on armed might, will be self-perpetuating to a certain point — and that that point may bring annihilation. Armies are a result of obsolete ways — just as gibbets are, and as thumb-screws are, and leper windows.

     “It might be that military appropriations should be increased. We need an easy, enlightened, well-paid, courteously treated army — one so good that it will cooperate in its own decline.”


Image: EVERY WAR HAS TWO LOSERS: WILLIAM STAFFORD ON PEACE AND WAR, edited and introduced by Kim Stafford[2]

[1] https://www.williamstafford.org/about/ and https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-e-stafford
[2] http://kim-stafford.com/