Dick Sheppard

1880-1937

A British pastor and pacifist known for his work with London's poor, Dick Sheppard drafted the following pledge in 1934: "I renounce war and never again, directly or indirectly, will I support or sanction another." A year later, over 100,000 people had signed it. Unfortunately, most members of the Peace Pledge Union later broke their pledge and fought in World War II. Read more

Not peace at any price, but love at all costs. At all costs...Though my enemy slay me, I will die rather than hate him."

"Although a man does not automatically become a better citizen because he has seen a vision of the truth, he must inevitably become a worse citizen if he fails to follow that vision where it leads."

quoted in Testament of Experience by Vera Brittain

"Love...it is the only weapon we need. It is full of understanding...it never makes quick harsh judgments. It gets to the heart of a situation as nothing else...it knows when to speak and when to be silent...It believes in all men and women...It runs to give itself as the father ran to the prodigal son, not because he pitied his son, but because he could not do without him."

"The Human Parson", lecture 1923

"The art of killing is the essence of war, and no Christian can uphold war unless he is prepared to kill his brother. If a man believes in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, war is murder...[Pacifism] has nothing to do with quietism in the sense of immoral apathy or cowardice."

quoted in Dick Sheppard: A Biography by Caroline Scott