"Albert Einstein. The world as I see it (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

glorification of the warlike spirit, as long as people have to be prepared
for occasions when such a spirit will be needed in the citizens for the
purpose of war. To arm is to give one's voice and make one's preparations
not for peace but for war. Therefore people will not disarm step by step;
they will disarm at one blow or not at all.

The accomplishment of such a far-reaching change in the life of nations
presupposes a mighty moral effort, a deliberate departure from deeply
ingrained tradition. Anyone who is not prepared to make the fate of his
country in case of a dispute depend entirely on the decisions of an
international court of arbitration, and to enter into a treaty to this
effect without reserve, is not really resolved to avoid war. It is a case of
all or nothing.

It is undeniable that previous attempts to ensure peace have failed
through aiming at inadequate compromises.

Disarmament and security are only to be had in combination. The one
guarantee of security is an undertaking by all nations to give effect to the
decisions of the international authority.

We stand, therefore, at the parting of the ways. Whether we find the
way of peace or continue along the old road of brute force, so unworthy of
our civilization, depends on ourselves. On the one side the freedom of the
individual and the security of society beckon to us, on the other slavery
for the individual and the annihilation of our civilization threaten us. Our
fate will be according to our deserts.

The Disarmament Conference of 1932

I


May I begin with an article of political faith? It runs as follows: The
State is made for man, not man for the State. And in this respect science
resembles the State. These are old sayings, coined by men for whom human
personality was the highest human good. I should shrink from repeating them,
were it not that they are for ever threatening to fall into oblivion,
particularly in these days of organization and mechanization. I regard it as
the chief duty of the State to protect the individual and give him the
opportunity to develop into a creative personality.

That is to say, the State should be our servant and not we its slaves.
The State transgresses this commandment when it compels us by force to
engage in military and war service, the more so since the object and the
effect of this slavish service is to kill people belonging to other
countries or interfere with their freedom of development. We are only to
make such sacrifices to the State as will promote the free development of
individual human beings. To any American all this may be a platitude, but
not to any European. Hence we may hope that the fight against war will find