The causes and consequences of war (in proverbs)

The human (and economic) consequences of a war are almost immeasurable for the countries involved; each day that passes without resolving a conflict increases the bill to be paid. On a different level, thousands of kilometers away from the battlefront, Portugal is also suffering the impact of rising prices, be it gasoline, food or interest rates on housing loans. it is not a text to assess these losses, not even a text that forgets the countless conflicts in other parts of the world. War is not a phenomenon of this decade of the 21st century, and our riffon player proves it: «For your King you fought, your house you guarded», recalls in Adagios Portugueses reduced to Lugares Comuns, work of 1651, compiled by António Delicado , in a saying that alludes to the genesis of a nation.

Who cares is the mussel

Unfortunately, it hasn’t taken much to start a war. “The war and the supper, beginning is kindled”, says the people. Once the fuse is lit, years of darkness are lived. «War, plague and famine always go together.» And who suffers the most? “When elephants fight, the grass suffers.” It is said that “from war, damage comes early and profit late”. During, it is known that «time of war, lie on earth» and a comparison is made with other so-called battles: «War, hunting and love, for a pleasure a hundred pains.» The pleasure of war remains to be explained… Or how long it will last, since «a war started, only God knows when it is finished».Read more: Midas, gold, gods and cartoons

A list of kings, heroes, cowards…

On this topic, perhaps the proverb that has proven most resistant be the one to warn us that “who goes to war, gives and takes”. And, as would be expected, the men who go into combat are seen from different perspectives. We have both the «married man, neither a good husband nor a good soldier», as well as «not all who go to war are soldiers». There is room for cowards, martyrs and smartasses, whether in «after the battle, the brave appear» or in «better a live coward than a dead hero». Major Hespanha, in his Dictionary of Maxims, Adagios and Proverbs, lists that «whoever is afraid, does not wear armour». And which men-at-arms will go down in history? «Soldiers fight, but heroes will be kings.» He also read: Money and happiness: Separated or hand in hand?

… and envies, ambitions, pests and ruin

If it were for our phrases, there would be no discussion about blame in the notary: «Offensive war is a tyrant’s; he who defends himself is a just man”. And, if we want sentences different from the most common ones, just turn to the Collection of Thoughts, Maxims and Proverbs. In this work from 1847, advisor José Joaquim Rodrigues de Bastos offers us three interpretations of the causes and consequences of military conflicts: «The ambitious person forgets the inconstancies of fortune and the vicissitudes of war.» «Envy drags behind him the thinness of hunger, the poison of the plague, and the rage of war.»«War is a process, which ruins even those who win it.»Read more: For the ancients, the gain is even in saving

Waiting for the abundance of peace

Whether due to ambitions, envy or anger, even if it is true that “war looks good to someone who is far from it”, it is common desire to see the conflict over. We would have liked the escalation to have remained just for the words, since «whoever threatens his spent wrath.» This time, however, the anger was not spent by the verbiage and now we yearn to «get to the binding of the wounds» which, as Paulo Perestrello da Câmara explains in his Collection of Proverbs, Adagios, Rifãos, Anexins, Moral Sentences and Idiotisms of the Lingoa Portugueza, means the time when the danger has passed. Let us believe that «storms and war do not last forever» and, therefore, one day the time will come to heal ills. How and when will war end? In the real world, we don’t know. In the proverbs, “every war ends where it should begin: peace.” And then maybe we can look at our life with different eyes. «Let us have health and peace, and we will have plenty.»Read more: Food and proverbs: From hunger to gluttony Paulo M. Morais grew up playing street football and listening to proverbs told by his grandmothers. He graduated in Social Communication and specialized in the areas of cinema, videogames and gastronomy. He is the author of novels and non-fiction books. He collects board games and continues to watch many movies. He likes to cook, look at the sea, read. The information contained in the article is not binding and does not invalidate the full reading of documents that support the matter in question.