Quote by Leo Tolstoy
To us, it is incomprehensible that millions of Christian men killed and tortured each other because Napoleon was ambitious or Alexander was firm, or because England's policy was astute or the Duke of Oldenburg was wronged. We cannot grasp what connection such circumstances have the with the actual fact of slaughter and violence: why because the Duke was wronged, thousands of men from the other side of Europe killed and ruined the people of Smolensk and Moscow and were killed by them.
Summary
This quote highlights the absurdity and cruelty of war, questioning the illogical connections between political ambitions and the mass violence that ensues. The speaker expresses their inability to comprehend how millions of Christian men are willing to maim and kill each other over political disputes or grievances. They find it perplexing that conflicts escalate to the point where thousands of individuals from distant lands engage in bloodshed and destruction because a duke was wronged, illustrating the disconnected nature of war from the initial causes that spark it.
By Leo Tolstoy
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