We wished to enjoy the incompatible luxuries of an unbridled tongue and an unready hand.
There was a very large element which was ignorant of our military weakness, or, naturally enough, unable to understand it; and another large element which liked to please its own vanity by listening to offensive talk about foreign nations.

Accordingly, too many of our politicians, especially in Congress, found that the cheap and easy thing to do was to please the foolish peace people by keeping us weak, and to please the foolish violent people by passing denunciatory resolutions about international matters--resolutions which would have been improper even if we had been strong.

Their idea was to please both the mollycoddle vote and the vote of the international tail-twisters by upholding, with pretended ardor and mean intelligence, a National policy of peace with insult.
I abhor unjust war.

I abhor injustice and bullying by the strong at the expense of the weak, whether among nations or individuals.

I abhor violence and bloodshed.