"Will you suffer your soldier, captured in fighting your battles, to be in confinement for months rather than release him by giving for him that which you call a piece of property, and which we are willing to accept as a man? You certainly appear to place less value upon your soldier than you do upon your negro. I assure you, much as we of the North are accused of loving property, our citizens would have no difficulty in yielding up any piece of property they have in exchange for one of their brothers or sons languishing in your prisons."
More by Benjamin Butler (politician)
See allResonant Thoughts
"A person who is religiously enlightened appears to me to be one who has, to the best of his ability, liberated himself from the fetters of his selfish desires and is preoccupied with thoughts, feeling…"
"Impulses of revenge lead to ressentiment the more they change into actual *vindictiveness*, the more their direction shifts toward indeterminate groups of objects which need only share one common char…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"As things now stand, the office is a slightly meaner battleground than the home. Male bosses seem to domina…"
— Wilfrid Sheed"The army is engaged in a crucial and heroic battle... on which the destiny of the nation and its people res…"
— Bashar al-Assad"If Jerusalem falls into the hands of the Muslims, Athens and Rome will be next. Thus, Jerusalem is the main…"
— Geert Wilders"It was to be dynamic, both in its outward form and inward activity.."
— Vladimir Tatlin"The problem that confronts some of you younger ones – you’ve got to find an alternative to war. War is some…"
— Norman Thomas"I now return you the memoir … I am much gratified by its communication, because, as the plan appeared in th…"
— Thomas Jefferson
