Peace hath her victories no less
renowned than war
We
are prone to thinking of victory only in terms of war, but we often forget that
peace has also her victories. Victories of war and Victories of peace are of
different types, though. They need to be compared or discussed side by side, so
that we can have a proper appraisal of both. We talk of victories of war mainly
because we have, within us, a tendency towards hero worship. We invest the war
heroes with a rich glamour of imagination. We adore the heroes like Alexander
the Great of Greece, Napoleon Bonaparte of France, and Genghis Khan of
Mongolia, and many others. Their victories dazzle our eyes, and there seems
nothing so glorious as them. But actually what pictures of victories of war do
we get. The pictures are of lands laid waste, cities burnt down and looted,
thousands lying dead, thousands wounded and maimed, thousands making the air
heavy with cries from intolerable
pains. They tell the horrifying tale of leaving behind a trail of death and
desolation. In ancient times, people were mercilessly put to sword, and those
who survived were enslaved. The unbridled cruelty of the conquerors found
satisfaction in the endless havoc--—destruction of life and property and
nature. The victory was won at a terrible cost of blood, of the beauties of
nature and of civilization. The war of the modern times is even more
horrifying: modern weapons of war are many times more destructive and
horrifying than the wars of the ancient times. War involves enormous bloodshed,
huge loss of lives, and inconceivable devastation and ruin. But still we call
them victories of war. In our mind, war, is rounded with a psychopathic
romance. The victories of war are so called. We look at them with a diseased
vision.
On
the other hand, the victories of peace are the real victories. The history of
the progress of man from barbarism to civilization is a history of real
achievement during peace time. All kinds of art painting, music, sculpture and
architecture and poetry and drama owe their birth, growth and nourishment to
peace. The inventions and discoveries of science occur not in the hot war
cries, but during the tranquil time of peace. Philosophy also grows not in the
hot atmosphere of war, but in the peaceful atmosphere of peace. The
achievements of great men—- great scientists, scholars, statesmen, inventors,
social reformers, philosophers, and artists——occur during peacetime.
The
victories of war bring glory, or shall we say, so-called glory to a particular
nation and for a particular time, but the victories of peace are a real glory for the humanity at
large, and they last for all time to come.
So
the saying "Peace hath her victories no less renowned than .war"
seems to me to be inexact. It undervalues the achievements of peace. The real
appraisal Of the matter should rather be that peace hath her victories more
beneficial than those of war. But if we are to respect the proverb we can say,
"Peace
hath her victories no less
renowned
than war."
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