To Claymore: Einstein most certainly did say the "simultaneously prepare for and prevent war" quote. His theories that led to the creation of the atomic bomb are moot to his viewpoints on war.

Little Hawk: I suspect that the 4 million slaves felt a little differently about the solving problems through talking--Northern and Southern politicians had been talking for almost 50 years while slavery continued to grow throughout the nation--spurred on by Northern textile mills and Southern cotton.

The Quaker point of view relies on an optimistic view of human nature. I'm not so optimistic about the human race. Non-violence wasn't going to stop Hitler, and even if he was the end product of violence, by the time he was a threat to others, no amount of talking was going to change things. Ask Neville Chamberlain.