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"Every up-to-date dictionary should say that "peace" and "war" mean the same thing, now in posse, now in actu" - William James in "The Moral Equivalent of War"
by mrbonner 8y ago
"Every up-to-date dictionary should say that "peace" and "war" mean the same thing, now in posse, now in actu" - William James in "The Moral Equivalent of War" https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/moral.html https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/moral.html
- yesenadam 8y agoFrom Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary (1906) OCCIDENT, n. The part of the world lying west (or east) of the Orient. It is largely inhabited by Christians, a powerful subtribe of the Hypocrites, whose principal industries are murder and cheating, which they are pleased to call “war” and “commerce.” These, also, are the principal industries of the Orient. BOUNDARY, n. In political geography, an imaginary line between two nations, separating the imaginary rights of one from the imaginary rights of the other. CANNON, n. An instrument employed in the rectification of national boundaries. PEACE, n. In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting. GUNPOWDER, n. An agency employed by civilized nations for the settlement of disputes which might become troublesome if left unadjusted. PROJECTILE, n. The final arbiter in international disputes. Formerly these disputes were settled by physical contact of the disputants, with such simple arguments as the rudimentary logic of the times could supply – the sword, the spear, and so forth. With the growth of prudence in military affairs the projectile came more and more into favor, and is now held in high esteem by the most courageous. Its capital defect is that it requires personal attendance at the point of propulsion.