In the long run all battles are lost, and so are all wars.
Interpretation
Ultimately, struggles and conflicts are futile as all outcomes end in loss.
This quote by H. L. Mencken reflects a philosophical outlook on the nature of conflict and struggle, suggesting that regardless of the victories and defeats we experience, the ultimate outcome is a universal loss. It encourages us to consider the transient nature of our battles and perhaps prioritize peace and understanding over contentious pursuits.
In practice
This quote can be used in a motivational speech to encourage individuals to choose diplomacy over conflict.
I know a good many men of great learning-that is, men born with an extraordinary eagerness and capacity to acquire knowledge. One and all, they tell me that they can't recall learning anything of any value in school. All that schoolmasters managed to accomplish with them was to test and determine the amount of knowledge that they had already acquired independently-and not infrequently the determination was made clumsily and inaccurately.
It takes a long while for a naturally trustful person to reconcile himself to the idea that after all God will not help him
It is the theory of all modern civilized governments that they protect and foster the liberty of the citizen; it is the practice of all of them to limit its exercise, and sometimes very narrowly.
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.
The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy.
It is my conviction that no normal man ever fell in love, within the ordinary meaning of the term, after the age of thirty.
Almost certainly God is not in time. His life does not consist of moments one following another...Ten-thirty-- and every other moment from the beginning of the world--is always Present for Him. If you like to put it this way, He has all eternity in which to listen to the split second of prayer put up by a pilot as his plane crashes in flames.
It is not the facts which guide the conduct of men, but their opinions about facts; which may be entirely wrong. We can only make them right by discussion.
There are two stories for every life; the one you live & the one others tell
Freedom granted only when it is known beforehand that its effects will be beneficial is not freedom.
Men who are unhappy, like men who sleep badly, are always proud of the fact.
whatever is profound loves masks; what is most profound even hates image and parable.
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