If it's naive to want peace instead of war, let 'em make sure they say I'm naive. Because I want peace instead of war.
Benjamin B. FerenczWar makes murderers out of otherwise decent people. All wars, and all decent people.
Benjamin B. FerenczThere can be no peace without justice, no justice without law and no meaningful law without a Court to decide what is just and lawful under any given circumstance.
Benjamin B. FerenczWell, if it's naive to want peace instead of war, let 'em make sure they say I'm naive. Because I want peace instead of war. If they tell me they want war instead of peace, I don't say they're naive, I say they're stupid. Stupid to an incredible degree to send young people out to kill other young people they don't even know, who never did anybody any harm, never harmed them. That is the current system. I am naive? That's insane.
Benjamin B. FerenczPeople get discouraged. They should remember, from me, it takes courage not to be discouraged.
Benjamin B. FerenczI don't think I'm an idealist. I'm a realist. And I see the progress. The progress has been remarkable. Look at the emancipation of woman in my lifetime. You're sitting here as a female. Look what's happened to the same-sex marriages. To tell somebody a man can become a woman, a woman can become a man, and a man can marry a man, they would have said, "You're crazy." But it's a reality today. So the world is changing. And you shouldn't - you know - be despairing because it's never happened before. Nothing new ever happened before.
Benjamin B. Ferencz