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.
Margaret MacmillanRead
If you start thinking war is inevitable, then in your own times, you don't resist it as strongly as you should.
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
All quotes →Climate change respects no borders.
Margaret MacmillanRead
War is a crucial, deeply ingrained part of human history. It has to be understood.
Margaret MacmillanRead
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.
Margaret MacmillanRead
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.
Margaret MacmillanRead
If we don't take responsibility for each other, it seems to me the future is going to be even bleaker.
Margaret MacmillanRead
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