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About this quote

What does it mean?
Being a pacifist is easy when there is no war, just as being a vegetarian is easy when there are no meals.
In plain terms
It is easy to be peaceful when there is no conflict.
What can you take from it?
Do not judge principles based on how easy they are to follow in calm times.

Where it applies

  • moral testing
  • ethical consistency
  • conflict resolution

Putting it to work

  • test principles under pressure
  • evaluate consistency

Questions to consider

  • Are you only pacifist when safe?
  • What makes a principle real?

Another view

Not all pacifists claim consistency under all conditions.

More from Ammon Hennessey

  1. 'I am a Catholic. I am a pacifist. I am a Christian anarchist. In Russia the enemies of the free worker are the bureaucrats and the communists. In the United S…

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  2. 'Oh, judge, your damn laws: the good people don't need them and the bad people don't follow them, so what good are they?'

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  3. 'An anarchist is anyone who doesn't need a cop to tell him what to do.'

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