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If you start thinking war is inevitable, then in your own times, you don't resist it as strongly as you should.
Margaret Macmillan
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Believing war is unavoidable can weaken our resolve to prevent it.

Margaret Macmillan's quote highlights the danger of succumbing to a fatalistic mindset regarding war. When individuals start to think that conflict is unavoidable, it can diminish their motivation and commitment to resisting war, leading to a passive acceptance of violence rather than proactive measures to maintain peace and diplomacy.

Themes

WarInevitablePeaceResistanceConflict

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about peace, one might say, 'As Margaret Macmillan warned, if we start thinking war is inevitable, we might lose the will to resist it.'

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Theodore Roosevelt's policy to build a two-ocean navy confirmed that the old-style isolationism of the founders had not survived the modern, increasingly globalized world.
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If we don't take responsibility for each other, it seems to me the future is going to be even bleaker.
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