--- title: "1 Conscientious Objector Quotes By david rakoff" description: "1 Conscientious Objector quotes by david rakoff. Plus more from david rakoff and more Conscientious Objector sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2e/david-rakoff-3308_beautiful-mind_for-most-of-my-life-i-would-have-automat_737556.jpg" --- > [“For most of my life, I would have automatically said that I would opt for conscientious objector status, and in general, I still would. But the spirit of the question is would I ever, and there are instances where I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/for-most-of-my-life-i-would-have-automatically-said-that-i-would-opt/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2e/david-rakoff-3308_beautiful-mind_for-most-of-my-life-i-would-have-automat_737556.jpg) ## More by david rakoff > [“The hiking boots the outdoor adventure magazine sent me to buy - large, ungainly potato like things that I have been trying to break…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/the-hiking-boots-the-outdoor-adventure-magazine-sent-me-to-buy-large/) [david rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [Is there some lesson on how to be friends? I think what it means is that central to living a life that is good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/is-there-some-lesson-on-how-to-be-friends-i-think-what-it-means-is/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“We are disclosing animals, wired for unburdening. It's what we do as a species. When I am being told, I listen, mindful of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/we-are-disclosing-animals-wired-for-unburdening-it-s-what-we-do-as-a/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“Details can change or go missing entirely, particularly in moments of physical peril. A kind of amnesia goes hand in hand with sickness, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/details-can-change-or-go-missing-entirely-particularly-in-moments-of/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“Is there some lesson on how to be friends? I think what it means is that central to living A life that is good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/is-there-some-lesson-on-how-to-be-friends-i-think-what-it-means-is-2/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“The central drama of my life is about being a fraud, alas. That's a complete lie, really; the central drama of my life is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/the-central-drama-of-my-life-is-about-being-a-fraud-alas-that-s-a/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [I am going to the bad place, as is my wont.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/i-am-going-to-the-bad-place-as-is-my-wont/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [The only thing that makes one an artist is making art. And that requires the precise opposite of hanging out; a deeply lonely and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/the-only-thing-that-makes-one-an-artist-is-making-art-and-that/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [I will forever be grateful to my oncologist for opening the door and saying, 'Damn it, the tumor's 10 percent bigger,' before he even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/i-will-forever-be-grateful-to-my-oncologist-for-opening-the-door-and/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“It was nice to find out, then, that if one is characterologically incapable of not being a total fuckface, science has not shown you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/it-was-nice-to-find-out-then-that-if-one-is-characterologically/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [People are really trying their best. Just like being happy and sad, you will find yourself on both sides of the equation many times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/people-are-really-trying-their-best-just-like-being-happy-and-sad-you/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“One day reach idealization; after all, it's the journey, not the destination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/one-day-reach-idealization-after-all-it-s-the-journey-not-the/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“It was turning out to be an anxious Christmas season. Too many were the early mornings spent sitting at the table, insomniac in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/it-was-turning-out-to-be-an-anxious-christmas-season-too-many-were/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“The best=laid plans, one's most fastidious contingency strategies have revealed themselves in the cold light of day to be laughably inadequate, no match for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/the-best-laid-plans-one-s-most-fastidious-contingency-strategies-have/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [Unfortunately, there's no greater rhyme or reason as to why it would be me. And since there is no answer as to why me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/unfortunately-there-s-no-greater-rhyme-or-reason-as-to-why-it-would/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscientious-objector/david-rakoff/#itemlist", "name": "1 Conscientious Objector Quotes By david rakoff", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For most of my life, I would have automatically said that I would opt for conscientious objector status, and in general, I still would. But the spirit of the question is would I ever, and there are instances where I might. If immediate intervention would have circumvented the genocide in Rwanda or stopped the Janjaweed in Darfur, would I choose pacifism? Of course not. Scott Simon, the reporter for National Public Radio and a committed lifelong Quaker, has written that it took looking into mass graves in former Yugoslavia to convince him that force is sometimes the only option to deter our species' murderous impulses. While we're on the subject of the horrors of war, and humanity's most poisonous and least charitable attributes, let me not forget to mention Barbara Bush (that would be former First Lady and presidential mother as opposed to W's liquor-swilling, Girl Gone Wild, human ashtray of a daughter. I'm sorry, that's not fair. I've no idea if she smokes.) When the administration censored images of the flag-draped coffins of the young men and women being killed in Iraq - purportedly to respect \"the privacy of the families\" and not to minimize and cover up the true nature and consequences of the war - the family matriarch expressed her support for what was ultimately her son's decision by saying on Good Morning America on March 18, 2003, \"Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? I mean it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?\" Mrs. Bush is not getting any younger. When she eventually ceases to walk among us we will undoubtedly see photographs of her flag-draped coffin. Whatever obituaries that run will admiringly mention those wizened, dynastic loins of hers and praise her staunch refusal to color her hair or glamorize her image. But will they remember this particular statement of hers, this \"Let them eat cake\" for the twenty-first century? Unlikely, since it received far too little play and definitely insufficient outrage when she said it. So let us promise herewith to never forget her callous disregard for other parents' children while her own son was sending them to make the ultimate sacrifice, while asking of the rest of us little more than to promise to go shopping. Commit the quote to memory and say it whenever her name comes up. Remind others how she lacked even the bare minimum of human integrity, the most basic requirement of decency that says if you support a war, you should be willing, if not to join those nineteen-year-olds yourself, then at least, at the very least , to acknowledge that said war was actually going on. Stupid fucking cow.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "david rakoff" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/for-most-of-my-life-i-would-have-automatically-said-that-i-would-opt/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2e/david-rakoff-3308_beautiful-mind_for-most-of-my-life-i-would-have-automat_737556.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2e/david-rakoff-3308_beautiful-mind_for-most-of-my-life-i-would-have-automat_737556.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2e/david-rakoff-3308_beautiful-mind_for-most-of-my-life-i-would-have-automat_737556.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For most of my life, I would have automatically said that I would opt for conscientious objector status, and…” — David Rakoff", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscientious-objector/david-rakoff/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscientious-objector/david-rakoff/", "name": "Conscientious Objector Quotes by david rakoff", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscientious-objector/david-rakoff/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2e/david-rakoff-3308_beautiful-mind_for-most-of-my-life-i-would-have-automat_737556.jpg" }, "description": "1 Conscientious Objector quotes by david rakoff. 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