QuoteProject
All wars are follies, very expensive and very mischievous ones.
Benjamin Franklin
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Wars are foolish and costly endeavors that bring harm and chaos.

In this quote, Benjamin Franklin expresses his belief that wars are not only foolish actions but also lead to significant financial and social consequences. He emphasizes the negative impacts that wars have on society, suggesting that they bring about more harm than any potential benefits, highlighting the importance of seeking peaceful resolutions over conflict.

Themes

WarFoolishnessCostConflictPeace

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech about conflict resolution, one might quote this to highlight the absurdity of war.

More from Benjamin Franklin

To the generous mind the heaviest debt is that of gratitude, when it is not in our power to repay it.
Benjamin FranklinRead
He'll cheat without scruple, who can without fear.
Benjamin FranklinRead
[E]very Man who comes among us, and takes up a piece of Land, becomes a Citizen, and by our Constitution has a Voice in Elections, and a share in the Government of the Country.
Benjamin FranklinRead
Our Constitution is in actual operation; everything appears to promise that it will last; but in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.
Benjamin FranklinRead
Let honesty and industry be thy constant companions, and spend one penny less than thy clear gains; then shall thy pocket begin to thrive; creditors will not insult, nor want oppress, nor hungerness bite, nor nakedness freeze thee
Benjamin FranklinRead
I think that a young state, like a young virgin, should modestly stay at home, and wait the application of suitors for an alliance with her; and not run about offering her amity to all the world; and hazarding their refusal. Our virgin is a jolly one; and tho at present not very rich, will in time be a great fortune, and where she has a favorable predisposition, it seems to me well worth cultivating.
Benjamin FranklinRead

Similar quotes

The aim of development must be neither producerism not consumerism, but the satisfaction of fundamental human needs, which are not only needs of humanity...
Manfred Max NeefRead
Boredom is an instrument of social control. Power is the power to impose boredom, to command stasis, to combine this stasis with anguish. The real tedium, deep tedium, is seasoned with terror and with death.
Saul BellowRead
It is the strange fate of man, that even in the greatest of evils the fear of the worst continues to haunt him.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another.
Thomas JeffersonRead
Far, far below the deepest delvings of the dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things.
J. R. R. TolkienRead
Penal law was not created by the common people, nor by the peasantry, nor by the proletariat, but entirely by the bourgeoisie as an important tactical weapon in this system of divisions which they wished to introduce.
Michel FoucaultRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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