General MacArthur: War and Spiritual Progress

"I know war as few other men now living know it,
and nothing to me is more revolting.

I have long advocated its complete abolition,
as its very destructiveness on both friend and foe
has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes.

Men since the beginning of time have sought peace.
Various methods through the ages have been attempted
to devise an international process to prevent or settle disputes
between nations... but...have never been successful.

Military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations,
all in turn failed, leaving the only path
to be by way of the crucible of war.

The utter destructiveness of war now blocks out this alternative.
We have had our last chance.
If we will not devise some greater and more equitable system,
our Armageddon will be at our door.

The problem basically is theological
and involves a spiritual recrudescence,
an improvement of human character
that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances
in science, art, literature,
and all material and cultural developments
of the past two thousand years.
It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh."

- Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964)
Address to U.S. Congress, April 19, 1951

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm048.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/filmmore/reference/primary/macspeech05.html