It is a question for the human soul.
Some will call me a utopian. They said the same of those who worked to abolish slavery, to give women the vote, to end the divine right of kings. Every great advance in human morality was once called impossible. albert einstein the menace of mass destruction full speech
A single war fought with atomic bombs — perhaps even a dozen of them — could end the life of every person on this planet. Not just the soldiers. Not just the cities. The entire civilization. The crops. The water. The air itself, poisoned with radioactive dust that would circle the earth for generations. It is a question for the human soul
What I must say to you tonight is simple, and it is terrible: Every great advance in human morality was once
The atomic bomb has made the old patterns of war obsolete. In the past, nations could fight and lose and survive. The losing army could retreat, surrender, rebuild. But with these new weapons, there will be no rebuilding. There will be no retreat. There will be no surrender, because there will be no one left to surrender.
We scientists have delivered the power into your hands. It is the power to destroy yourselves. What you do with it — whether you rise to the level of your own peril — is no longer a question for physics.