Conquer by kindness

今日は、折々見ているEverday Greatness という本から引用してみます。
もともとこの本も引用なのですが。リンカーンが敵軍の将官の処刑を求めてきた司令官に対して出したといわれる手紙の話です。

A letter from Abraham Lincoln to General Rosecrans, commander of the Army of the Southwest, concerned the proposed execution of a Confederate officer: "I have examined personally all the papers in the Lyons case, and I cannot see that it is a matter for executive interference. So I turn it over to you with full confidence that you will do what is just right; only begging you, my dear General, to do nothing in reprisal for the past - only what is necessary to ensure security for the future; and remind you that we are not fighting against a foreign foe, but our brothers, allegiance. Conquer by kindness - let that be our policy. Very truly yours, A. Lincoln."
Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.

• Theodore Isaac Rubin, MD, "One to One"

米国南北戦争の場合はもちろんですが、本当は普通の戦争でも兄弟や仲間と戦っており、復讐ではなく未来のみを見るべきなのだと思いました。
Conquer by kindness, というのも難しいですね。Lincolnのものとされる次の言葉も好きです。Conquer by kindness を心がけるということは次のような決意をすることなのかもしれないですね。

I desire to so conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall have at least one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside me. - Abraham Lincoln

Everyday Greatness: Inspiration for a Meaningfull Life