Blog #1A: Pick one of these quotes and tell me what you think the speaker means by it and what he/she is saying about history/peace specifically (150 words minimum).Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind...War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today- John F. Kennedy
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend - Abraham Lincoln
Nothing could be worse than the fear that one had given up too soon and left one unexpended effort which might have saved the world - Jane Addams
Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, and which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your convictions is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let man label you as they may - Mark Twain
If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace - Hamilton Fish
44 comments:
I think Abraham Lincoln means that the best way for an enemy to be a friend is to destroy it. Abraham Lincoln is saying that when you have war, sometimes the enemy can be a good friend to you by destroying their fort, castle, army, or the side that the other team is on.
Jacob G.
2nd Hour
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend - Abraham Lincoln
I think Abraham’s quote means that you need to keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. This is meant that you should know your enemies very well. If you know them, just as well as you know your friends, and then you could find out their weaknesses. You could then use their weaknesses against them. If you make an enemy your friend, they will think you’re a friend and not know you are going to defeat them. Making them your friend will help to obtain information that you would not normally get, just as long as you don’t give any of your information out. I could see why Abraham Lincoln said this quote because it is a smart thing to do and I am sure he kept his enemies close. It is a very good strategy and he was thinking that it would help others, and it did.
~Jourdan G.
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend – Abraham Lincoln
What Abraham Lincoln meant by this quote is that an enemy will always be your enemy. Unless you play the war game the smart way and make friends with you enemy. Then when you enemy is your friend you show him some loyalty and gratitude to make him think that you would never double cross him in the future. So therefore when the time comes in the future you can plan on you next strike against the enemy without have to worry about them planning one on your solders and can take as much time needed with the handicap being you have to be secretive of the attack. Then when the time comes you can make the strike on your so called opponents without them even being prepared for what’s happening to them at the time of the attack. That is what Abraham Lincoln meant by the quote that is so famous in the world today.
Divon Shammami
My comment on this quote. I choice my quote from John f Kennedy and I think this quote means that if we don’t stop this madness on war our madness will destroy our whole living race. But if we act now we can choice to live with our enemies which we will have to sacrifice a lot because if we do that we all know we want to but that person to rest but if we or that person does that we may not have our world in ORDER and in peace. And if we have more people that support conscientious objector and have more maybe of them we will stop war on our world which changes every day.
Blog spot Lenny R
Class 1A#
The Abraham Lincoln quote is very agreeable. I think Lincoln knows the best way to know someone is to be friends with them. Not many know many things about people they don’t like. When you are friends and know someone well, you know there tendencies. In war, being one step ahead can be enough to win the war. When you know your enemy inside and out you can predict what he is most likely going to do and if you spoil his plans before he makes them, then your forces will end up winning. If you can make your enemy retreat because you were already there you will already be ahead of the game. War is like chess and positioning is everything. If you know someone’s moves in chess before they actually do them you can trap them and destroy them. Lincoln is saying about history that the commanders that know their enemies the best usually end up winning. He is also saying knowledge can beat numbers unless numbers are knowledgeable. It takes smart commanders to win not just a lot of people. An example would be like in the movie 300.
David R.
2nd Hour
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend - Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln means that the fighting of people or the invasion of another country is not the most efficient way to destroy an enemy. The amount of lives that will be lost in any war, the amount of injuries people will sustain from fighting, the amount of resources that must be used for funding, and the drain on the economies and peoples welfare of both countries is very large compared to what would be lost with diplomacy. When using diplomacy to turn an enemy of yours into a friend you will lose nothing of importance and possibly achieve the same if not a better effect then if you turned to violence. Physical violence and attacks on others is not a very smart way of handling disputes, and before there is any thought of violence or attacking one another people should exhaust every resource that they have at their disposal to achieve a peaceful non-violent solution to the problems that they are having. Daniel Mooney.
The quote I choose is the Abraham Lincoln quote called “The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend”
This quote tells me that Abe Lincoln he wants peace and the only way to get that is to get rid of all of your enemies and make them your friends. That means that Abe Lincoln doesn’t want conflict. In his quote, I think he is using enemies in his quote as in war. Then in his quote, by friends I think he means by just resolving all the people that don’t like him and make them his friends. Since he became the president, he was making enemies in the South and his only friends were in the North. But in the end, he resolved the conflict with them and the South and he eventually became friends because his resolution was war and he got peace after he won. In conclusion, Abe Lincoln talks about on how he just wants to get rid of all the conflict in his life and always think positive and have everyone love him.
Mike Moffat
I am writing to address the quote from Mark Twain. I think Mark Twain isn’t talking about peace with country more than he’s peace of mind. No one person can decide what the right thing is for every one because everyone has different beliefs. That person can simply put an idea out there and whatever person has to decide for himself whether that is the right choice or not. Some people feel that to NOT make the decision makes them more a man or woman because they’re too good or too cool to actually care about what is going on with their country. Mark Twain was saying you can’t NOT make a decision and then claim to be a man or claim to be strong when you couldn’t even make a decision on what choice was right for you. Then he said “To decide against your convictions is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let man label you as they may” which is summed up quite nicely in itself. I think what he’s trying to say is that when you consciously make a decision not to make a decision about your country your are sending the message that says you don’t care about the country, the place you call home whether that’s what you’re trying to say or not. Then you have to deal with what everyone else is saying about you, and the reputation you’ve earned yourself because you refused to make a decision that could have bettered the place you call home.
“If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace.” – Hamilton Fish
I think that Hamilton Fish is trying to bring up the question “Is it worth it?” He wants people to think before they jump into a situation like war. He also wants people to think about whether peace is worth war, and you have to ask yourself, is it? I almost think that Fish is trying to suggest living in peace first before going to war to see if it is really worth it, but by that time it wouldn’t really make sense because you’d be living in peace so war wouldn’t be necessary. Fish might be trying to trick people into living in peace to prevent war with this quote. Hamilton Fish is using reverse psychology to get people to live peacefully together by posing the question on whether peace is worth dying for. This might not seem to make sense because peace and death by war contradict each other but I think that Fish feels favorable towards peace.
Emily P.
First Quote by John F. Kennedy.
I believe what Kennedy was trying to say was that war was going to help no one. All it is going to bring is death and sadness. Eventually war will destroy mankind unless they can find a way to get rid of it forever. He was also saying that war will continue to exist unless all humans live the same way and think the same way. When people think different it can cause one nation/idea to fight against another nation/idea. Those that chose not to fight in the war will one day be seen as heroes. They chose to see peace rather than see blood and violence. If I were ever forced to take place in a war I would chose to find a different path other than war to solve it. Those are the people that all humans must be like in order to get rid of war forever and have peace between all nations.
By: Nick T
2nd hour
US History A
The quote I have chosen was MR. Lincoln. The quote said to destroy an enemy is to make him or her your friend and I think that is a powerful quote because if you’re in a hard situation or like you’re about to get into a huge fight with someone what would you do in that predicament? It’s like you’re really fighting for no apparent reason that would not be very smart do u think? People sometimes start fights or wars for nothing, just because they can step on anyone and anything in their way. I would make my enemies’ my friends because you can also help them from hurting everything in their path like I was saying I would make them my friend I can teach them how not to do wrong because what if somebody was out to hurt you how would you feel then you’ll feel paranoid , then you’ll be trying to move out of the state or something
I think that Abraham Lincoln had a very good point when he said, “The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.” I think he was saying that to really get rid of an enemy is to become their friend. When you kill someone to literally destroy an enemy, it isn’t necessarily the best solution. There will still be people holding grudges, and the war with them as an enemy will never really be over, whether or not it is a huge war, or just a small group of people. When you make someone a friend, they no longer remain an enemy and the hard feelings are mostly gone. I think that Abraham Lincoln was specifically referring to making peace with an enemy. If you were to become friendly with an enemy, especially when there is a war going on, most of the hate towards them would disappear and then there could finally be peace between the two sides.
Sidney M.
2nd hour
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend - Abraham Lincoln
This quote from Abraham Lincoln is very true and applies to almost everything. The best way is to make a friend rather than get rid of an enemy. It’s more important to gain an enemy than lose a friend.
This obviously applies to war, and it is a fact that it is more important to gain a friend. In order to get rid of an enemy (when it comes to war) you would use up a lot of money and or materials if you plan to win and destroy the enemy. But instead you could gain a friend and become allies with that enemy; you’ve saved your country many lives, money, materials, and grief.
Lincoln said this as applying his quote to the civil war and the Confederacy being the enemy. If the Confederacy became allies or one again with the Union, then there would’ve have been many lives saved, saved money, and saved grief from families and friends of the soldiers. In general, having a friend rather than destroying an enemy is usually better.
-Trevor N
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend - Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln’s quote is straightforward but could be confusing at first. In general, people don’t think about enemies as friends, but as someone far from one. When you take time to think about what Lincoln is saying, it seems to have two different meanings. One meaning could be that by becoming friends with an enemy, you know more about their strengths and weaknesses, and could eventually use that to turn on them in the end. Another is that by getting closer to an enemy and earning his trust, he becomes a friend, and the thought of him as an enemy is destroyed. I think this message is most likely what Lincoln was trying to get across, along with the idea of more peace. If more friends are made out of enemies, especially in situations of war and government, then more we can live with more peace in the world.
Christine Aiello
2nd Hour
Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind...War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today- John F. Kennedy
This comment is saying that once war is started it’s hard to end. Mankind gets so wrapped up in war that it is forgotten why war was started in the first place. If war were to continue on for longer than intended the soul and spirit of men will fade away. Their morals and standards will be dropped as will their lives. Once an ordinary man enjoys the life he has, as it is, without fighting and abuse war will be able to come to an end. Though war is sometimes necessary to solve problems, it is only effective to an extent. If World War III came around the result will most likely be destruction of mankind. Some people may say that they will stick to their beliefs but once that war rolls around, you won’t know what to do and will most likely just follow the crowd. If only the world was peaceful and leaders could discuss in private, mankind today might be more forgiving and accepted into society.
I choose, "The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend" - Abraham Lincoln. I believe that if you make an enemy your friend, it makes it much easier to destroy him. Once you find out your enemy’s weak spots, and what they lack in you can take full advantage of it in the process of destroying them. When you become friends with someone you learn a substantial amount of information about them, and knowing anything about someone makes them easier to defeat then knowing nothing. In war its important to know your enemy’s strengths and weaknesses, because from that you can take into play what you can and can’t get away with while in battle. I feel that it is wrong to turn on a friend, or use what someone tells you against them, but in reality it will truly make a lot of progress to know your enemy, and be “friends” with them.
Katie Rothenberg
4th hour
Nothing could be worse than the fear that one had given up too soon and left one unexpended effort which might have saved the world -Jane Addams
I agree with this 100%. If somebody is doing something in life and they just give up, your not serving the world any of your talent or acheivements. If you put your mind to it, you can do it. When somebody wants to do something in life you should go through with it 100%, and not give 50%. If you want to do something big in life...do it because you never know the amount of effort your putting into your work, might just save the world, but it doesn't have to serve the world but it can help somebody in any kind of way! If you give up too soon, you might think back on how what you could of done saved somebody life or helped them in ANY kind of way.
Jasmine P.
4th hour
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend - Abraham Lincoln
This qoute presents one straightforward meaning to me, Abe Lincoln means simply that if you befriend a person, he is no longer your enemy. When he said this qoute, i believe that he was talking about the Confederate states. He, as well as the northern states did not want the south to secede nor want them as enemies in war. Abe figured if the north and the south compromised and came to good terms, they would no longer want to fight.
This ovbiously then, can apply to nations or countries and not just a person, if you befriend an enemy, that enemy is destoryed, and you just made a new friend.
This might not make sense to people or nations that have complete and utter hatred for their enemies. If we are still talking about countries, and the enemy is at war with them, the amount of money and effort spent in fighting that war would be a lot greater than the effort it would take to quietly resovle the country's desputes and come to a compromise.
Chris Andersen
4th hour, son
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.
-Abraham Lincoln
In this quote I believe Abraham Lincoln is 100% correct. The worst thing to do to an enemy is be nice. Hate is a terrible thing to have for a person to me. Even if someone has done something evil and cruel to you, you shouldn’t hate them for that. The word alone is very powerful and it’s one of the things that could break up our country. If everyone was nice to one another and lend a helping hand, then we could all get along. Though everyone may not agree it’s better than going around shooting, stabbing, and killing because of anger. If you don’t like a person, simple go your own way. Talking about them and other childish things are unnecessary. These are some of the things I think about Abraham Lincoln’s quote.
Courtney P.
4th Hour
Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, and which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your convictions is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let man label you as they may - Mark Twain
I think what Mark Twain is saying is that no single person can decide what is right or what is wrong for everyone. Everyone has different beliefs, and the idea chosen would not agree with every single person. A person should not follow another person’s idea unless they agree with every aspect of it, and that is highly unlikely. In order to believe what is right or what is wrong, a person should be able to formulate their own opinion out of their own morals and beliefs. In order to be your own person, you must have the ability to make your own decisions. A person cannot make a choice that someone else made and claim it as their own, because chances are, that person won’t agree with every detail of the decision, and if asked to explain why they think what they do, that person wouldn’t be able to explain well. If one was to agree with a person of a higher rank than them, simply because that person was afraid of the higher, it would not be for their own beliefs. If someone insults you because of what you believe in, let them. It’s not worth changing your morals for someone else’s approval. Be an individual, not a sheep following its master.
~Jessica Morrison~
I think what Abraham Lincoln meant in his quote was that if you have an enemy that you are fighting against it is smart to try and make friends with him and get on his good side. That way, you can discover their weaknesses and other information about them that you can potentially use against them and will help you. During a time of war you can’t avoid your rival because they will always try and attack you or get closer to you. By making friends with your enemy it can benefit you if you are able to feud back at them with knowledge you’ve gained by getting to know them. However, making friends with your enemy could also be for surrendering and declaring peace. In that case, you want to make friends with him to eliminate the hate between both of you. This would mean that you don’t want to have them as an enemy anymore.
Leah Nagel 4th
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend. – Abraham Lincoln What I think that Lincoln is trying to tell us is that one of the best ways to destroy one of your enemy’s is to become friends with them so you will know what their weaknesses are. If you know what a country’s weaknesses are then you can devise a plan to attack their weaknesses. I think that Abraham Lincoln also had another idea to this. If you become friends with a country to learn about its weaknesses then you might also find a way to resolve this problem or issue without any wars. This plan is a lot more peaceful than what his main objective was in becoming friends with the country/people. If we would have used this objective of becoming friends with the enemy then we would not have wasted so much time fighting and/or strategizing with the wars and battles.
Carleigh
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend - Abraham Lincoln
During the civil war, Abraham Lincoln was given the duty and responsibility of keeping the union together. Under the emotional and physical stress he went through, it makes sense that he said this quote. He’s trying to prove that in a war that’s not really war (The north didn’t want to annihilate the south, they just wanted to keep the union together), or any war for that matter, cannot be won with just brute force. Something that Lincoln understood, that others before him and after him don’t, is that there will always be more and more willing to fight to defend their beliefs no matter how much force is used; there will never be a shortage of rebels. He used this premise as an advantage, to reason with the south, to compromise with them (to an extent), and “to destroy them” in a sense. He knew that the amount of men lost, the money wasted, the impact on the economy, was not worth it when you could simply “make him [the enemy] a friend”. And, in my opinion, this philosophy won the war for the North. Tyler Friedman
Nothing could be worse than the fear that one had given up too soon and left one unexpended effort which might have saved the world- Jane Addams
Jane Addams quote I feel is very true, because just think if Albert Einstein wouldn’t have finish inventing the infamous Atomic Bomb most likely we wouldn’t have won World War ll. But at the same time a lot of inventions did help us but in the future they could also kill us. The Atomic Bomb like I said won us the war but it has the potential to wipe out the world; and if not wipe out the world it would leave our environment very scarce. Jane Addams could also be talking about something so little as just finishing your science or history project. That information within that project could educate a lot of people. But if you don’t finish nobody would know.
4th hour
Bianca Kea
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend - Abraham Lincoln
This quote is perplexing but if you were too look deeply into the meaning of it then you would see what he means. He has experienced many hardships and I think has realized that the only way to get rid you your enemies is to befriend them. Most people when they think of their enemies they think of friends that have betrayed them or someone who has been speaking poorly of you.
Abraham Lincoln did not have the kind of enemies that we have. His enemies could destroy a country; our enemies can hurt your feelings but not completely destroy you. You can take this quote in various different ways, you can take it as maybe he makes them a friend to be able to explore their weaknesses and then in the long run be able to destroy them. Or maybe he does it to make then an allies so together we can become a stronger front. Abraham Lincoln was a brilliant man; he did things for the good of our country. Maybe he was trying to find a way for peace with what he was saying or maybe he was trying to make peace. If everyone could make one of their enemies their friend, I’m sure we could find peace and a civil way of life.
-Molly Pursel 4th
I really do agree with Abraham Lincoln’s quote. In this quote Lincoln said that people should become friends instead of enemies and that old rivalries should be forgotten. I agree with this idea, because you will have too many enemies in life to fight against. This means that the only real way to resolve the problem is to overcome your differences and become friends. I disagree with the idea that people should fight against their enemies because in the end both sides will lose. Also if you have many enemies they will try to collaborate against you. If instead of fighting you try to resolve your problems, you will gain a friend and lose an enemy which is good for everyone. I think this is what Abraham Lincoln was trying to explain in his quote. This idea can be applied in school, at work, or anywhere else that you might have a conflict with another person.
BY: Todd Sekmistrz 4th hour US History
Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind...War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today- John F. Kennedy
What John F. Kennedy is trying to explain is that if we as humans don’t get control of our selves we will cause our own demise. Hopefully for the countries that make nuclear weapons they will never have the chance, need or want to use them. He is also saying that war will always continue to happen until we as people become one. Until we decide that everyone is equal as one but also has the right to be different in their own way. People need to learn how to except people for who they are and not want to change them to be like you or a whole group of people. I also think he is trying to say that everyone should be able to have the pride, prestige, and reputation of a warrior without having a war. You don’t have to be in a war to have a reputation of a warrior. Many people are strong without being in one.
Brentson Taylor
4th Hour
What John F. Kennedy is saying in his quote is that war is the destruction of man. If we live to destroy each other, then we will eventually destroy ourselves. War kills innocent people; it wreaks all that we have worked to achieve. Why start a war if in the end there is nobody to enjoy the peace? An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind, so why go to the trouble of risking your own hide? Kennedy believed in his quote that until the day that a peaceful man shares the same opinions as a soldier, there will be war, that until men accept one another and their opinions are shared, there will always be controversy. For those who take the quote to mean that we treat our soldiers with more respect and honor, they are correct as well. Does the average business man get medals and recognition when he arrives home from work at night, no. Does an old lady walking down the street get rewarded for still living life, no. But when a soldier comes home from war, they are met with medals, honor, and the joy of seeing their family again. What more could the average man ask for then to be unique for even a moment?
Clare A.
Hour #4
I will be commenting on the quote from Hamilton Fish. Hamilton Fish is trying to state a great point our feelings on life. When he says “If our country is worth dying for in time of war…” he is talking about the many soldiers who fought in battle and lost their lives fighting. These soldiers were fighting other nations for freedom, such as the Revolutionary War when the soldiers fought to gain their independence from Great Britain. The United States has also fought against itself to keep the nation together like in the Civil War when the North fought the South to keep the union together. Many people have died for the country to keep it free for everyone to live.
When Hamilton says “let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace.” He means you should not take our freedom for granite. You should live your life to the fullest and remember the people who fought to give you your freedom.
Jacob Rubin
3rd hour
Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind...War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today- John F. Kennedy
In this quote John F. Kennedy is saying that if we do not stop war then war will destroy us. He says that war won’t go away until someone who objects or protests war gets the same reputation that someone who does go to war. Only when the people who fight for peace get the same hero status as those who’ve actually gone to war get, war will be gone. The protestors who fight for peace fight just as hard as those who go to war, and maybe harder because they are looked down on from society for not going to war when they are drafted. Kennedy emphasizes peace in this quote by saying if we don’t make peace then war will destroy us. There is no in between. Kennedy believes that war only brings destruction and if it is not stopped then war will destroy us and our world.
Robbie L.
I am doing the quote said by John F. Kennedy. One can tell from what Kennedy says that he is very anti-war. Kennedy believes that if we do not stop the war, then the casualties will increase and put an end to us. In this quote, one can tell from Kennedy’s intense tone that this was said when a war was currently occurring, and Kennedy was able to see the growing amounts of deaths of American soldiers. Kennedy believes that war will continue to happen until the conscientious objector, which is Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary defines as: a person who refuses to serve in the armed forces or bear arms on moral or religious grounds, is respected. Kennedy says that once a soldier and conscientious objector our looked upon evenly, then people can look upon the reasons why the objector doesn’t want to fight, and agree with them when they (the pro war people) see all the casualties and harm of war. Kennedy believes that at this point, war will seize. I strongly agree with Kennedy because in wars today tons of people are being killed. Until the United States Government looks upon people anti-war and respects their opinions, the war will keep going
Jacob T.
(4th hour)
My quote was said by John F. Kennedy. It states, “Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind...War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.” This quote is very powerful. Kennedy was a very wise person, and he knew that to stop wars would be a very important thing around the world. What he means by this quote is that ending war is our only option. If we don’t, war will be the end of people. The way to end war is to have an objector to war feel as good as a soldier that is fighting. If we can do this, nobody will want to fight, and without any people to fight, there can be no war. If an objector gets the same feeling that a soldier does, then there is no point in fighting. --- Ben Zakaria
Kennedy is trying to say that if we don’t stop fighting each other in wars then we will eventually destroy ourselves along with the enemy and even other innocent people. We will keep having wars until we mankind can learn to respect each other and our ways of life. If we don’t stop this fighting now then there will be no such thing as mankind anymore. Our technology has become so advanced lately that if mankind got mad enough will each other we could destroy all of mankind will nuclear bombs which would cause us mankind to become non-existent anymore. This is why John F. Kennedy is saying that we most put an end to war and learn to respect each other. There will always be war until the people who don’t agree or the peacemakers are regarded the same as our soldiers who fight in our wars. I think that John F. Kennedy was very intelligent.
What Kennedy is saying is if we do not stop fighting one another, it’s going to go on until all of us end up destroying each other and that there will always be war until the people against the war are given as much respect and regarded just as highly as the soldiers fighting the war. Soldiers are valued much more than the radicals who are against the war. This is clear in today’s society, in which soldiers fighting the war in the Middle East are given so much praise through the media. I personally, and I think this my opinion applies to most people, do not want my children and the next generation growing up in a time of war. I don’t want them accustomed to that way of life and atmosphere.
Annie P.
2nd Hr.
Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind...War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today- John F. Kennedy
Wars can destroy mankind and destroy nations, and for that reason they must be stopped. According to Kennedy, when the people that fight for peace are celebrated as the warriors are celebrated, war will end. War will lose its glory and peace will be celebrated and the conscientious objectors will be celebrated. People will no longer look at war as a glorious affair, and will consider the conscientious objector heroes.
I had lived in a country that is now at war with this one. I dislike war because I lived in southwest Asia and war is a constant subject about it. I’m somewhat of a pacifist and I agree with Kennedy. War is not as glorified as it used to be, and that may be because of the Iraq war. Some wars (like the Iraq and Vietnam wars) should probably never have started. People over glorified war and had the wrong perception about it in the early twentieth century.
Merry S.
Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, and which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your convictions is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let man label you as they may - Mark Twain
I believe that Twain is telling the people that every man shall decide what is right or wrong by their selves, for their selves and their country. And not let another man tell them what is right because they may mislead you. If you choose to not choose or not follow your duty then you are not a man and you a betraying yourself and your country whether you want to be or not you will be considered a conspirator. If society is to call you some epithet do not despise them or contradict them. In relation to the war he is basically saying that you should choose whether to fight for your country and be patriotic. If you choose not to fight then you a betraying your country and they will classify as a traitor and society will deal with you. So basically it is every man for himself.
Nikita C
Abraham Lincoln stated that “the best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.” I interpreted this quote in two ways. The first was in the literal aspect. If you want to destroy someone, mentally or literally it is best to get to know them. This will help you to learn their weaknesses and their strengths. Once the day of battle comes, you could attack them to the best of your abilities. The second way I interpreted this quote was in the peaceful way. If you desire to destroy an enemy, then you should become peaceful friends with them, so that you know longer have an enemy, but a peaceful ally. I think that Abraham Lincoln said this quote as a paradox. At first glance, people thought that he was destructive, and was very happy about the war, but if you looked deeper, you would realize that he didn’t agree with the war at all.
Catie B.
“The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.” Abraham Lincoln was president of the Untied States during the Civil War, which was a time when the country was greatly divided. He felt it was his responsibility to try and bring the nation together, to unite the people that were greatly divided. He felt that one of the ways he could do this was by showing that they had more things in common than had differences. He tried to show them that by working together they could get over their differences and make the nation great again. Lincoln was the first to forgive the South for the actions that they had taken and the destruction that the Civil War caused. He worked very hard to make them realize that they had to put the past behind them and look toward the future. He tried not to show his anger and tried to always speak of things that the North and South had in common.
Megan K.
4th Hr.
"Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind...War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today--John f. Kennedy
What Kennedy is saying is that mankind must put an end to wars, or wars will put an end to the human race. War will continue until the day that the two sides come to a peaceful agreement they both like. The person or persons who started the war need to have the same reputation and prestige as the other side does, or exemplifies.
-Drew R. 4th hr
The Abraham Lincoln quote is very agreeable. I think Lincoln knows the best way to know someone is to be friends with them. Not many know many things about people they don’t like. When you are friends and know someone well, you know there tendencies. In war, being one step ahead can be enough to win the war. When you know your enemy inside and out you can predict what he is most likely going to do and if you spoil his plans before he makes them, then your forces will end up winning. If you can make your enemy retreat because you were already there you will already be ahead of the game. War is like chess and positioning is everything. If you know someone’s moves in chess before they actually do them you can trap them and destroy them. Lincoln is saying about history that the commanders that know their enemies the best usually end up winning. He is also saying knowledge can beat numbers unless numbers are knowledgeable. It takes smart commanders to win not just a lot of people. An example would be like in the movie 300.
David R.
2nd Hour
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend - Abraham Lincoln
This is a paradoxical quote from Lincoln that promotes peace. He means that by befriending an enemy he will no longer be hostile and peace can resume. This way of getting rid of an enemy is better than killing him because no lives are lost in the process. In war violence in inevitable so the only way to completely avoid bloodshed is by making peace. The quote is paradoxical because being friendly towards an enemy isn't exact a way to kill him, but it makes sense because when someone becomes a friend he is no longer an enemy so his status as an enemy is "destroyed". Some may think the quote means if you get close to the enemy you can find their weakness and destroy them, but I don't think this was Lincoln's intention. He promoted peace and believed war should be a last resort. The Civil War would have never started if the Confederacy hadn't attacked the Union first. After the Confederates attacked Fort Sumter, Lincoln saw no other option so the Union went to war. If Lincoln had gotten it his way, the only battles of the Civil War would’ve been fought with words.
Stefan Rush
2nd Hour
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend - Abraham Lincoln
This is a paradoxical quote from Lincoln that promotes peace. He means that by befriending an enemy he will no longer be hostile and peace can resume. This way of getting rid of an enemy is better than killing him because no lives are lost in the process. In war violence in inevitable so the only way to completely avoid bloodshed is by making peace. The quote is paradoxical because being friendly towards an enemy isn't exact a way to kill him, but it makes sense because when someone becomes a friend he is no longer an enemy so his status as an enemy is "destroyed". Some may think the quote means if you get close to the enemy you can find their weakness and destroy them, but I don't think this was Lincoln's intention. He promoted peace and believed war should be a last resort. The Civil War would have never started if the Confederacy hadn't attacked the Union first. After the Confederates attacked Fort Sumter, Lincoln saw no other option so the Union went to war. If Lincoln had gotten it his way, the only battles of the Civil War would’ve been fought with words.
Stefan Rush
2nd Hour
Nothing could be worse than the fear that one had given up too soon and left one unexpended effort which might have saved the world - Jane Addams
I think Jane Addams is making a good point with this quote. I think she was trying to get people to give their best effort in everything they do. I think that if we all followed our ideas and passions we would be a better nation, and society. What happens if Edison had given up on his idea of electricity? We wouldn’t have lights, and everything that followed. The good thing about our nation is our right to think, and act on our thoughts. We should use that privilege to our benefit. If we don’t we are no better off than we would be if we didn’t have that choice. I think Addams means we should follow our dreams, and our instincts when she says “nothing could be worse”, because if we don’t then we have nothing to gain. And in my opinion, and obviously Jane Addams opinion, what could be worse than gaining nothing from our thoughts.
Kelsey K.
4th hour
I think that the worst economic problem facing America that we talked about is the increasing price of oil and gas. We are dependent on the Middle East for our oil. Also, we are in a war in the Middle East. They control whether our oil prices will skyrocket, or decline. If we by chance decide to invade a new country over there, other countries like Saudi Arabia might grow angry with us and start charging us ridiculous amounts of money for a barrel of oil. As the price of gas continuous to grow, Americans are wasting more money for it, which in turn could be used for something better (like a kids’ college fund). And the price of gas is still going up. We need to find more gas resources by investigating natural products that can be turned into a fuel. If we do so, we will be able to stop worrying if our oil price will go up dramatically in a day.
TJ Hyland 5th Hour
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