"Don't Believe in War"

Bulat Okudzhava (1924-1997) said that one way of encouraging peace is by discouraging war. 

Don't believe in war Osama,

You can never win a fight

War constricts the heart, Osama,

A pair of boots too tight.

Your mighty horses swift and true

will be no use at all

as exposed upon a giant's palm,

beneath musket shot you'll fall.

Sadi, the 13th century Persian traveller, storyteller, poet and Muslim mystic, said that once a war is started, there is no going back. Fighting is a common instinct that we all share. But only humans take it to a higher level of organization that leads to total warfare. 

Luis Enrique Mejia Godoy said that

My personal revenge will be your children's

right to schooling and to flowers.

My personal revenge will be this song

bursting for you with no more fears.

My personal revenge will be to greet you

'Good Morning!' in the streets with no beggars,

when instead of locking you inside

they say, 'Don't look so sad'.

When you, the torturer

daren't lift your head.

My personal revenge will be to give you

these hands you once ill-treated

with all their tenderness intact. 

We all think that the death of any human being is not to be joyfully celebrated but it is true that justice has to be done in this life. When our enemy falls, we should not rejoice and we should not let our heart be glad when our "foe is outstretched beneath the tree." 

The malfeasance "bestirred itself / then suddenly someone suggested ... / It would be kinder to show it kindness." But it is difficult to show kindness to a terrorist. 

Mark Twain said that "I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure."  

But let us try to sow love, only love can undo evil, only love can undo malfeasance. With our ink, let us spread love. The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr!