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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.'

More from Margaret Macmillan

An apology offered and, equally important, received is a step towards reconciliation and, sometimes, recompense. Without that process, hurts can rankle and fester and erupt into their own hatreds and wrongdoings.
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War is a crucial, deeply ingrained part of human history. It has to be understood.
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There was that argument that if we had more women in positions of authority, the world would be a nicer place. And then we got Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Indira Gandhi. When women become acclimatised to war, they can become every bit as ruthless as men.
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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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