“Of all manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most.”
-Thucydides (c.460 B.C.– c.400 B.C.)
If restraint implies ‘voluntary’ restraint would we these days recognize something so over the top quaint?
Yes, in Antiquity
but regarded now
as mere obliquity
Here is why & how:
Today’s absence of restraint
sustains mindless shopping
above all for more war paint
unjust wars not stopping
Fans fiery fire
absent qualms
by our Empire
dropping bombs
While voices of restraint
raised rarely, echo faint