Anyone who thinks must think of the next war as they would of

Listen, O children, to the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, a woman whose voice rose above the tumult of world events, speaking truth with the weight of wisdom and experience. She said: "Anyone who thinks must think of the next war as they would of suicide." These words, though stark and unsettling, carry with them a profound warning. To speak of war in such terms is to remind us of the devastation it brings, not only to the body but to the very soul of a people. War, she suggests, is not a matter of glory or victory, but of self-destruction, a choice that brings about the ruination of all involved. Just as suicide is an act that ends a life, so too is war an act that ends nations, dreams, and humanity itself.

To truly understand this, O children, let us reflect on the nature of war. It is a calamity that arises from the clash of ambitions, fears, and misunderstandings between people and nations. When war is waged, it is not just the enemy who suffers, but all who are involved—those who fight, those who are caught in its wake, and those who are left behind. War is not a contest of strength, but a destruction of life. It is a great wound that tears through the fabric of society, leaving scars that last for generations. It is, in its essence, an act of suicide, where the self-destruction of nations mirrors the self-destruction of an individual.

Consider, O children, the world wars that scarred the twentieth century. In World War I, the Great War, millions of young men marched off to fight with a sense of duty and honor, believing in the righteousness of their cause. They fought for glory, for the defense of their nations, for the ideals that seemed so clear in the eyes of those who sent them. Yet, when the war ended, what had been accomplished? The world was in ruins, and millions of lives were lost in a conflict that many later realized had been based on fragile lies and empty promises. Roosevelt’s words reflect this painful truth—war is a path that leads not to honor, but to destruction, not to victory, but to the collapse of all that is good and meaningful.

Even more so, consider the devastation of World War II, a war that followed so quickly after the first, showing the tragic consequences of unresolved hatred, fear, and vengeance. In the aftermath of Hitler's rise to power, nations found themselves plunged into conflict once again. The war was fought, not just with tanks and guns, but with the deep scars of history, of race, of power and domination. But what did it leave behind? Millions dead, cities reduced to rubble, and the horrific legacy of the Holocaust, where entire communities were annihilated. Roosevelt’s comparison of war to suicide speaks to this very reality—the death of the spirit, the destruction of entire cultures