A great empire and little minds go ill together.
Edmund BurkeRead
Wars are just to those to whom they are necessary.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that wars are seen as justified by those who believe they are essential for achieving a goal.
Edmund Burke's quote reflects on the complex nature of wars and how perceptions vary based on individual perspectives. Those who deem war necessary often view it as a means to an end, rationalizing its application in political or social conflict, while others may see it as a tragedy or failure of diplomacy. This highlights the subjective nature of morality and justification in human conflict, where necessity can distort the reality of violence and destruction.
Themes
WarNecessityJustificationConflictPerspective
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate on the ethics of military intervention, one might say, 'As Edmund Burke said, wars are just to those to whom they are necessary.'
More from Edmund Burke
All quotes βTo read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.
Edmund BurkeRead
Flattery corrupts both the receiver and the giver.
Edmund BurkeRead
The hottest fires in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis.
Edmund BurkeRead
Society can overlook murder, adultery or swindling; it never forgives preaching of a new gospel.
Edmund BurkeRead
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund BurkeRead
Similar quotes
And that's why people read comics, to get away from the way life works, which is quite cruel and unheroic and ends in death.
Grant MorrisonRead
Presume not that I am the thing I was.
William ShakespeareRead
I think that if you were to probe a lot of people's religious opinions, they would not be as religious as the numbers would suggest.
Steven PinkerRead
I am truly free only when all human beings, men and women, are equally free. The freedom of other men, far from negating or limiting my freedom, is, on the contrary, its necessary premise and confirmation.
Mikhail BakuninRead
My long struggles as a soldier of the Chinese Revolution have forced me to realize the necessity of facing hard facts. There will be neither peace, nor hope, nor future for any of us unless we honestly aim at political, social and economic justice for all peoples of the world, great and small.
Chiang Kai-ShekRead
I believe in the fundamental truth of all great religions of the world. I believe that they are all God- given and I believe that they were necessary for the people to whom these religions were revealed. And I believe that if only we could all of us read the scriptures of the different faiths from the standpoints of the followers of these faiths, we should find that they were at bottom all one and were all helpful to one another.
Mahatma GandhiRead