We've learned how to destroy, but not to create; how to waste, but not to build; how to kill men, but not how to save them; how to die, but seldom how to live.
Omar N. BradleyRead
We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights humanity's greater understanding of conflict than of harmonious living.
Omar N. Bradley's quote illustrates the irony of human knowledge, emphasizing that while we have extensively studied the nature of war and violence, our comprehension of peace and the essence of living is far less developed. This observation prompts a reflection on the priorities and values of society, suggesting the need to invest more in understanding peaceful coexistence rather than focusing predominantly on conflict.
Themes
PeaceWarLivingUnderstandingHumanity
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech at a peace conference, to stress the importance of understanding peace.
More from Omar N. Bradley
All quotes βIf you will help run our government in the American way, then there will never be any danger of our government running America in the wrong way.
Omar N. BradleyRead
Wars can be prevented just as surely as they can be provoked, and we who fail to prevent them must share the guilt for the dead.
Omar N. BradleyRead
The greatness of a leader is measured by the achievements of the led. This is the ultimate test of his effectiveness.
Omar N. BradleyRead
We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the sermon on the mount.
Omar N. BradleyRead
I am convinced that the best service a retired general can perform is to turn in his tongue along with his suit and to mothball his opinions.
Omar N. BradleyRead
Similar quotes
The methods of peace propaganda which aim at establishing peace doctrine by argument and by creating a feeling favorable to peace in general seem to fall short of reaching the springs of human action and of dealing with the causes of the conduct which they seek to modify.
Elihu RootRead
I enter negotiations with Chairman Arafat, the leader of the PLO, the representative of the Palestinian people, with the purpose to have coexistence between our two entities, Israel as a Jewish state and Palestinian state, entity, next to us, living in peace.
Yitzhak RabinRead
The peace process we all aim for will not necessarily be a result of the mere signing of a treaty or agreement. It must become a matter of our everyday lives, so that peace settles and lasts and becomes supported by everybody. We therefore have to give peace all the required care and preserve it and promote it.
Hassan Ii Of MoroccoRead
The link between peace and stability on the one hand, and social and economic growth on the other, is dialectic. Peace, poverty, and backwardness cannot mix in one region.
King Hussein IRead
Negotiation and discussion are the greatest weapons we have for promoting peace and development.
Nelson MandelaRead
Peace is rarely denied to the peaceful.
Friedrich SchillerRead