At a time when science plays such a powerful role in the life of society, when the destiny of the whole of mankind may hinge on the results of scientific research, it is incumbent on all scientists to be fully conscious of that role, and conduct themselves accordingly.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

But scientists on both sides of the iron curtain played a very significant role in maintaining the momentum of the nuclear arms race throughout the four decades of the Cold War.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

But the first the general public learned about the discovery was the news of the destruction of Hiroshima by the atom bomb. A splendid achievement of science and technology had turned malign. Science became identified with death and destruction.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

I appeal to my fellow scientists to remember their responsibility to humanity.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

I did not imagine that the second half of my life would be spent on efforts to avert a mortal danger to humanity created by science.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

I have to bring to your notice a terrifying reality: with the development of nuclear weapons Man has acquired, for the first time in history, the technical means to destroy the whole of civilization in a single act.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

If the militarily most powerful - and least threatened - states need nuclear weapons for their security, how can one deny such security to countries that are truly insecure? The present nuclear policy is a recipe for proliferation. It is a policy for disaster.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

Indeed, the whole human species is endangered, by nuclear weapons or by other means of wholesale destruction which further advances in science are likely to produce.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

Let me remind you that nuclear disarmament is not just an ardent desire of the people, as expressed in many resolutions of the United Nations. It is a legal commitment by the five official nuclear states, entered into when they signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

My third appeal is to my fellow citizens in all countries: Help us to establish lasting peace in the world.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

Several studies, and a number of public statements by senior military and political personalities, testify that - except for disputes between the present nuclear states - all military conflicts, as well as threats to peace, can be dealt with using conventional weapons.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

Since the end of the Cold War two main nuclear powers have begun to make big reductions in their nuclear arsenals. Each of them is dismantling about 2,000 nuclear warheads a year.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

The chief task was to stop the arms race before it brought utter disaster. However, after the collapse of communism and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, any rationale for having nuclear weapons disappeared.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

The Cold War is over but Cold War thinking survives.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

The most terrifying moment in my life was October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I did not know all the facts - we have learned only recently how close we were to war - but I knew enough to make me tremble.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

The present basic philosophy is nuclear deterrence.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

The time has come to formulate guidelines for the ethical conduct of scientist, perhaps in the form of a voluntary Hippocratic Oath.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

This is the reality of nuclear weapons: they may trigger a world war; a war which, unlike previous ones, destroys all of civilization.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

This means that the only function of nuclear weapons, while they exist, is to deter a nuclear attack.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

To sum up, there is no evidence that a world without nuclear weapons would be a dangerous world. On the contrary, it would be a safer world, as I will show later.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote

We are told that the possession of nuclear weapons - in some cases even the testing of these weapons - is essential for national security. But this argument can be made by other countries as well.
- Joseph Rotblat Quote