There are many things which we can afford to forget which it is yet well to learn.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
Between two groups of people who want to make inconsistent kinds of worlds, I see no remedy but force.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that when two opposing groups have conflicting visions for the world, the only way to resolve their differences may be through coercive means.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. reflects on the inevitable clash between groups with fundamentally different aspirations for society. He implies that when two factions cannot reconcile their opposing desires to shape the world in different ways, peaceful negotiation may fail, leading to the only solution being the use of force. This encourages a contemplation on the nature of societal conflict and the extremes that may arise when divergent ideologies collide.
Themes
ConflictWorldviewCoercionResolutionPower
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a debate about the justification of war in international relations.
More from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
All quotes βOn the whole, I am on the side of the unregenerate who affirms the worth of life as an end in itself, as against the saints who deny it.
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If you don't know what you want, you will probably never get it.
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Why should you row a boat race? Why endure the long months of pain in preparation for a fierce half hour that will leave you all but dead? Does anyone ask the question? Is there anyone who would not go through all the costs, and more, for the moment when anguish breaks into triumph or even for the glory of having nobly lost? Is life less than a boat race? If a man will give the blood in his body to win the one, will he spend all the might of his soul to prevail in the other?
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The main part of intellectual education is not the acquisition of facts, but learning how to make facts live.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
Beware how you take away hope from another human being.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
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