QuoteProject
We declared war on terror-it's not even a noun, so, good luck.
Jon Stewart
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote humorously critiques the abstract nature of 'terror' as a concept, suggesting the difficulty in combating an intangible enemy.

Jon Stewart's quote points out the irony and challenge of declaring a war on a concept like 'terror', which is not a tangible entity that can be fought in a conventional manner. By highlighting that 'terror' isn't even a noun, he emphasizes the absurdity of labeling such an abstract threat as an enemy, suggesting that this war might be inherently unfightable and that our efforts against it could be both misguided and futile.

Themes

WarTerrorAbstractChallengeIrony

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used during a debate about the effectiveness of military strategies against intangible threats.

More from Jon Stewart

I still do not understand how a corporation can have person-hood if it has no soul and never dies.
Jon StewartRead
President Bush announced his new economic plan. The centerpiece was a proposed repeal of the dividend tax on stocks, a boon that could be worth millions of dollars to average Americans. Well, average stock-owning Americans. Technically, Americans who own a significant amount of shares in dividend-dealing companies. Well, rich people, that's what I'm trying to say. They're going to do really well with this.
Jon StewartRead
Wait a minute! Wait a minute! I figured this out. I know what's wrong with what we've done in Iraq. We've been following time as it goes forward. What a classic mistake. Linear time is so pre-9-11.
Jon StewartRead
You just have to keep trying to do good work, and hope that it leads to more good work. I want to look back on my career and be proud of the work, and be proud that I tried everything. Yes, I want to look back and know that I was terrible at a variety of things.
Jon StewartRead
If you don't stick to your values when they're being tested, they're not values: they're hobbies.
Jon StewartRead
Thomas Jefferson once said: 'Of course the people don't want war. But the people can be brought to the bidding of their leader. All you have to do is tell them they're being attacked and denounce the pacifists for somehow a lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.' I think that was Jefferson. Oh wait. That was Hermann Goering. Shoot." [Hosting the Peabody Awards for broadcasting excellence at the New York Waldorf-Astoria, June 6, 2006]
Jon StewartRead

Similar quotes

The private citizen, beset by partisan appeals for the loan of his Public Opinion, will soon see, perhaps, that these appeals are not a compliment to his intelligence, but an imposition on his good nature and an insult to his sense of evidence.
Walter LippmannRead
One is always at home in one's past.
Vladimir NabokovRead
Ethical existence [is] the highest manifestation of spirituality.
Albert SchweitzerRead
There is nothing more horrifying than stupidity in action.
Jawaharlal NehruRead
The longest journeyIs the journey inwards.Of him who has chosen his destiny, Who has started upon his quest For the source of his being.
Dag HammarskjoldRead
I came to a point where I needed solitude and just stop the machine of ‘thinking’ and ‘enjoying’ what they call ‘living’, I just wanted to lie in the grass and look at the clouds.
Jack KerouacRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.