No principle is worth the sacrifice of a single human being.
Daniel BerriganRead
Instead of building the peace by attacking injustices like starvation, disease, illiteracy, political and economic servitude, we spend a trillion dollars on war since 1946, until hatred and conflict have become the international preoccupation.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the misguided priorities of spending on war instead of addressing global injustices.
Daniel Berrigan emphasizes the irony in our global priorities, where instead of investing in solutions to pressing issues like starvation, disease, and illiteracy, significant resources have been funneled into warfare. This misallocation not only perpetuates suffering but also cultivates a world steeped in hatred and conflict, diverting our focus from creating a peaceful and just society.
Themes
PeaceInjusticeWarResourcesConflict
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used at a peace rally to emphasize the need for prioritizing humanitarian efforts over military spending.
More from Daniel Berrigan
All quotes →Of course, let us have peace, we cry, "but at the same time let us have normalcy, let us lose nothing, let our lives stand intact, let us know neither prison nor ill repute nor disruption of ties ... " There is no peace because there are no peacemakers. There are no makers of peace because the making of peace is at least as costly as the making of war - at least as exigent, at least as disruptive, at least as liable to bring disgrace and prison, and death in its wake.
Daniel BerriganRead
The death of a single human being is too heavy a price for the vindication of any principle, however sacred.
Daniel BerriganRead
The God of life summons us to life; more, to be lifegivers, especially toward those who lie under the heel of the powers.
Daniel BerriganRead
For my part, I believe that the vain, glorious and the violent will not inherit the earth. . . . In pursuance of that faith my friends and I take the hands of the dying in our hands. And some of us travel to the Pentagon, and others live in the Bowery and serve there, and others speak unpopularly and plainly of the fate of the unborn and of convicted criminals. It is all one.
Daniel BerriganRead
Sometime in your life, hope that you might see one starved man, the look on his face when the bread finally arrives. Hope that you might have baked it or bought or even kneaded it yourself. For that look on his face, for your meeting his eyes across a piece of bread, you might be willing to lose a lot, or suffer a lot, or die a little, even.
Daniel BerriganRead
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Perhaps if all the peoples of the world understand what war really means, we would eliminate it.
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We extend our hand towards peace. Our people are committed to peace. We know that peace entails painful compromise for both sides.
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After World War II, it seemed that humanity understood something, and nothing like that would happen again. _x000D_ _x000D_ Humanity has understood nothing. _x000D_ _x000D_ Religious, tribal, national wars continue. The world continues to be in a sea of blood. _x000D_ _x000D_ The world can be better if there's love, tolerance and humility.
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