The wars don't end when you sign peace treaties or when the years go by. They will echo on until I'm gone and all the widows and orphans are gone.
Tim O'BrienRead
It was my view then, and still is, that you don't make war without knowing why. Knowledge of course, is always imperfect, but it seemed to me that when a nation goes to war it must have reasonable confidence in the justice and imperative of its cause. You can't fix your mistakes. Once people are dead, you can't make them undead.
Interpretation
What this quote means
War should only be waged with a clear understanding of its justification and consequences.
In this quote, Tim O'Brien emphasizes the moral complexity of war and the importance of understanding the reason behind it. He suggests that nations must approach war with a deep commitment to its justification, as the irreversible nature of death makes it essential to ensure that the cause is worthy and just. The acknowledgment that knowledge is inherently imperfect adds weight to the responsibility of those who decide to initiate conflict, highlighting the grave consequences of misguided decisions.
Themes
WarKnowledgeJusticeMoralityConsequences
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate on military intervention, one might reference this quote to highlight the need for justification before engaging in conflict.
More from Tim O'Brien
All quotes →...you find yourself studying the fine colors on the river, you feel wonder and awe at the setting of the sun, and you are filled with a hard, aching love for how the world could be and always should be, but now is not.
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Unlike Chicago or New York, small-town Minnesota did not allow a man's failings to disappear beneath a veil of numbers. People talked. Secrets did not stay secret.
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Place is so important to me. The Midwest is like a ghost in my life. It's present as I look out the window now. I see Texas, but if I close my eyes and look out the same window, I'm back in my hometown in Worthington, Minnesota, and I cherish those values and that diction.
Tim O'BrienRead
In fiction workshops, we tend to focus on matters of verisimilitude largely because such issues are so much easier to talk about than the failure of imagination.
Tim O'BrienRead
War is a fundamental aspect of human existence. It's good to know what war entails and what the human sacrifice is.
Tim O'BrienRead
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