We cannot have peace if we are only concerned with peace. War is
We cannot have peace if we are only concerned with peace. War is not an accident. It is the logical outcome of a certain way of life. If we want to attack war, we have to attack that way of life.
“We cannot have peace if we are only concerned with peace. War is not an accident. It is the logical outcome of a certain way of life. If we want to attack war, we have to attack that way of life.” Thus spoke A. J. Muste, the fiery pacifist and prophet of nonviolence, who walked in the shadow of great conflicts yet dared to speak against the currents of his time. His words strike deep, for they remind us that war does not fall upon us like lightning from the sky, random and unforeseen. No, it is born from the soil of human choices, from greed, from pride, from the worship of power. And therefore, if men would have peace, they must uproot the very way of life that breeds war.
The ancients understood this bitter truth. When Thucydides wrote of the Peloponnesian War, he declared that its causes were not accidents, but the fear, ambition, and interest of nations. These were not sudden flames, but embers long smoldering in the hearths of Athens and Sparta. Muste, standing centuries later, proclaims the same: if society glorifies violence, covets wealth, and thrives upon domination, then war is not a mistake but its natural harvest. Thus the pursuit of peace must go beyond treaties and speeches; it must reach into the marrow of civilization itself.
Consider the devastation of the First World War. Millions perished, and when the guns fell silent, leaders declared, “Never again.” Yet within a generation, the world plunged into a second war even more terrible. Why? Because the underlying way of life—the nationalism, the economic rivalries, the lust for empire—remained unchallenged. Armies were rebuilt, hatreds rekindled, and the soil once again bore the fruit of destruction. Here we see Muste’s warning: to long for peace while leaving untouched the causes of war is to build houses on sand.
Yet there are glimmers of hope where men and women did heed this wisdom. After the Second World War, instead of crushing Germany utterly as had been done after the first, the nations chose a new way. Through the Marshall Plan, through reconciliation, through the planting of institutions that fostered cooperation, they began to attack the way of life that had produced endless conflict in Europe. The result was not perfection, but a continent that, for the first time in centuries, knew an era of relative peace. Thus history shows that when we change the soil, we change the harvest.
But Muste’s words are not only for nations; they are for souls. For does not each person carry within the seeds of war? Envy, anger, greed, and pride—these are the weapons of the heart, and from the heart they spill into the world. If families live in strife, if communities live in division, can we expect nations to live in harmony? To “attack that way of life” is to begin in our own lives: to renounce violence in word and deed, to resist the temptations of hatred, to choose generosity over greed. For the way of life that produces peace is humility, compassion, and justice.
The lesson for us is clear: to desire peace without transformation is an illusion. If we wish for the end of war, we must confront the idols of our age: the idol of conquest, the idol of wealth at all costs, the idol of power without justice. To pursue peace only as absence of conflict is cowardice; to pursue it by reshaping our way of life is courage. True peace is not maintained by fear of arms, but by the cultivation of righteousness and the building of communities where the dignity of all is upheld.
Practical actions follow. In your life, seek to live in ways that do not feed the roots of war: be generous where the world teaches greed, forgiving where the world teaches vengeance, cooperative where the world teaches rivalry. Support leaders and institutions that build justice rather than division. And most of all, do not be content with a shallow peace that merely hides conflict beneath silence. Strive for the deeper peace that springs from transformed lives, from a transformed way of being.
Thus Muste’s words resound like a trumpet call across the ages: war is not an accident—it is the child of how we live. If we would end it, we must change not only policies but hearts, not only weapons but ways. And so I say to you: attack not only war, but the way of life that breeds it. For only then will the peace we seek endure, not for a season, but for generations yet unborn.
THNguyen thi hang
I find Muste’s point about attacking the way of life that leads to war very thought-provoking. But how do we even begin to change a way of life that is deeply ingrained in many societies? Is it possible to rethink and reshape cultural values around peace without facing fierce resistance? How do we inspire people to shift from a mindset of competition and survival to one of cooperation and understanding?
VANguyen Viet Anh
Muste’s perspective challenges the common view that peace can simply be declared. If war is not an accident, but a result of a particular way of life, how do we recognize this way of life in today’s world? Is the pursuit of power, greed, and exploitation at the heart of conflict? Can we start by addressing the inequalities and injustices that lead to violence, or do we need a more radical shift in thinking?
MHNguyen Thi Mai Hoa
This quote really challenges the simplistic idea that peace can be achieved through diplomacy alone. Muste suggests we need to look at the root causes of war and attack those directly. But what does that look like in practice? How do we begin to change the systems that breed conflict—economic, political, or social—without causing further unrest or disruption? What kind of global effort is required to tackle these issues at their core?
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Muste’s quote makes me think about the larger societal structures that breed war. If war is a product of our way of life, what are the specific aspects of our culture or systems that contribute to this? Is it capitalism, nationalism, or something deeper? How do we begin to dismantle the systems that perpetuate conflict without creating new forms of violence in the process?
NDLe Ngoc Diep
A. J. Muste’s statement is profound in its suggestion that peace can’t simply be achieved by focusing on peace itself. If war is the logical outcome of a particular way of life, how do we identify and change that way of life? What are the root causes of conflict, and how do we address the underlying systems or mindsets that perpetuate war? Can true peace only come by transforming societal values and priorities?