Joseph Rotblat Professions : Physicist Born : November 4, 1908 Died : August 31, 2005 Browse All Authors Top 36 quotes by Joseph Rotblat If the militarily most powerful and least threatened states need nuclear weapons for their security, how can one deny such security to countries that are truly insecure? The present nuclear policy is a recipe for proliferation. It is a policy for disaster. Joseph Rotblat insecure powerful country At a time when science plays such a powerful role in the life of society, when the destiny of the whole of mankind may hinge on the results of scientific research, it is incumbent on all scientists to be fully conscious of that role, and conduct themselves accordingly. Joseph Rotblat destiny powerful play Let me remind you that nuclear disarmament is not just an ardent desire of the people, as expressed in many resolutions of the United Nations. It is a legal commitment by the five official nuclear states, entered into when they signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Joseph Rotblat proliferation-treaty nuclear-disarmament commitment Technology is driving us together. In many ways we are becoming like one family. With the global threats resulting from science and technology, the whole of humankind now needs protection. We have to extend our loyalty to the whole of the human race. Joseph Rotblat technology loyalty race But scientists on both sides of the iron curtain played a very significant role in maintaining the momentum of the nuclear arms race throughout the four decades of the Cold War. Joseph Rotblat race heart war I did not imagine that the second half of my life would be spent on efforts to avert a mortal danger to humanity created by science. Joseph Rotblat effort humanity would-be I saw science as being in harmony with humanity. Joseph Rotblat harmony saws humanity So I ask the nuclear powers to abandon the out-of-date thinking of the Cold War period and take a fresh look. Above all, I appeal to them to bear in mind the long-term threat that nuclear weapons pose to humankind and to begin action towards their elimination. Joseph Rotblat war long thinking My worry is that other advances in science may result in other means of Joseph Rotblat engineering mass-destruction mean But the first the general public learned about the discovery was the news of the destruction of Hiroshima by the atom bomb. A splendid achievement of science and technology had turned malign. Science became identified with death and destruction. Joseph Rotblat hiroshima-and-nagasaki technology discovery Alice Stewart [is] a much underestimated scientist who has been an indomitable challenger of the establishment and a thorn in the flesh of the nuclear industry. Joseph Rotblat scientist nuclear flesh The present basic philosophy is nuclear deterrence. Joseph Rotblat nuclear-deterrence nuclear philosophy The most terrifying moment in my life was October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I did not know all the facts - we have learned only recently how close we were to war - but I knew enough to make me tremble. Joseph Rotblat cuban-missile-crisis scary war Whatever system of governance is eventually adopted, it is important that it carries the people with it. We need to convey the message that safeguarding our common property, humankind, will require developing in each of us a new loyalty: a loyalty to mankind. It calls for the nurturing of a feeling of belonging to the human race. We have to become world citizens. Joseph Rotblat loyalty race people The quest for a war-free world has a basic purpose: survival. But if in the process we learn how to achieve it by love rather than by fear, by kindness rather than by compulsion; if in the process we learn to combine the essential with the enjoyable, the expedient with the benevolent, the practical with the beautiful, this will be an extra incentive to embark on this great task. Joseph Rotblat kindness beautiful war Long before the terrifying potential of the arms race was recognized, there was a widespread instinctive abhorrence of nuclear weapons, and a strong desire to get rid of them. Joseph Rotblat strong race long This is the reality of nuclear weapons: they may trigger a world war; a war which, unlike previous ones, destroys all of civilization. Joseph Rotblat war civilization reality I have to bring to your notice a terrifying reality: with the development of nuclear weapons Man has acquired, for the first time in history, the technical means to destroy the whole of civilization in a single act. Joseph Rotblat men mean reality My short-term vision is the abolition of nuclear weapons. My long-term vision is the abolition of war. Joseph Rotblat vision war long But the nuclear powers still cling tenaciously to their weapons. Joseph Rotblat nuclear stills weapons Similar Authors Gabriel Lippmann physicist Burton Richter physicist Bruno Rossi physicist Bruce Maccabee physicist Brian Cox physicist Allan McLeod Cormack physicist All Authors
