--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: War is always a matter of doing evil in…" description: "\"War is always a matter of doing evil in the hope that good may come of it.\" — B. H. Liddell Hart" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/b-h-liddell-hart-9275_evil_war-is-always-a-matter-of-doing-evil-in_1998066.png" --- # War is always a matter of doing evil in the hope that good… ![“War is always a matter of doing evil in the hope that good may come of it.” quote by B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/b-h-liddell-hart-9275_evil_war-is-always-a-matter-of-doing-evil-in_1998066.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/b-h-liddell-hart-9275_evil_war-is-always-a-matter-of-doing-evil-in_1998066.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/b-h-liddell-hart-9275_evil_war-is-always-a-matter-of-doing-evil-in_1998066.png) > “War is always a matter of doing evil in the hope that good may come of it.” [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. War involves committing evil with the hope that good outcomes will follow. **In simple terms:** War is a moral compromise. Key Takeaway Weigh ethical costs of conflict. Themes war ethics hope morality Mood somber critical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - policy making - conflict resolution - humanitarian aid - historical analysis Key Concepts political theory military strategy Questions to Reflect On - Is war ever justified? - What alternatives exist to achieve good? A Different Perspective Idealistic hope may ignore real suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doing Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-evil-992532/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Evil Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-hope-408565/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Hope Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope-good/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Military](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/military/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [In fine, a life of good or evil, the hope of Heaven or the despair of Hell, Faustus stands as a reminder that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-fine-a-life-of-good-or-evil-the-hope-of-heaven-or-the-despair-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“As long as what you are afraid of is something evil, you may still hope that the good may come to your rescue. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/as-long-as-what-you-are-afraid-of-is-something-evil-you-may-still/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [Nobody has any right to find life uninteresting or unrewarding who sees within the sphere of his own activity a wrong he can help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-william-eliot/nobody-has-any-right-to-find-life-uninteresting-or-unrewarding-who/) [Charles William Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-william-eliot/) > [“Hope is the greatest gift and the greatest evil...Hope saved us and hope might yet kill us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/hope-is-the-greatest-gift-and-the-greatest-evil-hope-saved-us-and/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [“How the gods must have chuckled when they added Hope to the evils with which they filled Pandora's box, for they knew very well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/how-the-gods-must-have-chuckled-when-they-added-hope-to-the-evils/) [W. 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But for good people to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/with-or-without-religion-you-would-have-good-people-doing-good-things/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [The Devil in tears, everyone doing Evil and blaming him!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/the-devil-in-tears-everyone-doing-evil-and-blaming-him/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [What I say is that the supreme and singular joy of making love resides in the certainty of doing evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/what-i-say-is-that-the-supreme-and-singular-joy-of-making-love/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [It is never right to do wrong or to requite wrong with wrong, or when we suffer evil to defend ourselves by doing evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/it-is-never-right-to-do-wrong-or-to-requite-wrong-with-wrong-or-when/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [Christian society is like a bundle of sticks laid together, whereof one kindles another. Solitary men have fewest provocations to evil, but, again, fewest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-hall/christian-society-is-like-a-bundle-of-sticks-laid-together-whereof/) [Joseph Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-hall/) > [There is much said about the wickedness of doing evil that good may come. Alas! there is such a thing as doing good that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-barr/there-is-much-said-about-the-wickedness-of-doing-evil-that-good-may/) [Amelia Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-barr/) > [“The aim of the sinless One consists in acting without causing sorrow to others, although he could attain to great power by ignoring their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-aim-of-the-sinless-one-consists-in-acting-without-causing-sorrow/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The doing evil to avoid an evil cannot be good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/the-doing-evil-to-avoid-an-evil-cannot-be-good/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [You pronounced your words as if you don’t acknowledge the shadows, or the evil either. Would you be so kind as to give a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bulgakov/you-pronounced-your-words-as-if-you-don-t-acknowledge-the-shadows-or/) [Mikhail Bulgakov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bulgakov/) > [A man without a memory is only capable of doing evil, nothing else but evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/a-man-without-a-memory-is-only-capable-of-doing-evil-nothing-else-but/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) ## More by B. H. Liddell Hart > [The downfall of civilized states tends to come not from the direct assaults of foes, but from internal decay combined with the consequences of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/the-downfall-of-civilized-states-tends-to-come-not-from-the-direct/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [The implied threat of using nuclear weapons to curb guerrillas was as absurd as to talk of using a sledge hammer to ward off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/the-implied-threat-of-using-nuclear-weapons-to-curb-guerrillas-was-as/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [In war the chief incalculable is the human will, which manifests itself in resistance, which in turn lies in the province of tactics. Strategy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/in-war-the-chief-incalculable-is-the-human-will-which-manifests/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [If you want peace, understand war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/if-you-want-peace-understand-war/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [In a campaign against more than one state or army, it is more fruitful to concentrate first against the weaker partner than to attempt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/in-a-campaign-against-more-than-one-state-or-army-it-is-more-fruitful/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [I used to think that the causes of war were predominantly economic. I came to think that they were more psychological. I am now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/i-used-to-think-that-the-causes-of-war-were-predominantly-economic-i/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [While the nominal strength of a country is represented by its numbers and resources, this muscular development is dependent on the state of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/while-the-nominal-strength-of-a-country-is-represented-by-its-numbers/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [If we clear the air of the fog of catchwords which surround the conduct of war, and grasp that in the human will lies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/if-we-clear-the-air-of-the-fog-of-catchwords-which-surround-the/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [The unexpected cannot guarantee success, but it guarantees the best chance of success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/the-unexpected-cannot-guarantee-success-but-it-guarantees-the-best/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [Guerrilla war is a kind of war waged by the few but dependent on the support of many.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/guerrilla-war-is-a-kind-of-war-waged-by-the-few-but-dependent-on-the/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [The art of the indirect approach can only be mastered, and its full scope appreciated, by study of and reflection upon the whole history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/the-art-of-the-indirect-approach-can-only-be-mastered-and-its-full/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [It is only to clear from history that states rarely keep faith with each other, save in so far (and so long) as their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/it-is-only-to-clear-from-history-that-states-rarely-keep-faith-with/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [The most dangerous error is failure to recognize our own tendency to error.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/the-most-dangerous-error-is-failure-to-recognize-our-own-tendency-to/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [The effect to be sought is the dislocation of the opponent's mind and dispositions - such an effect is the true gauge of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/the-effect-to-be-sought-is-the-dislocation-of-the-opponent-s-mind-and/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [Helplessness induces hopelessness, and history attests that loss of hope and not loss of lives is what decides the issue of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/helplessness-induces-hopelessness-and-history-attests-that-loss-of/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) [Explore all 74 B. H. Liddell Hart quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) ## More Evil quotes > [I've always been fascinated by the idea that there's no such thing as evil; it's all in your point of view. To one group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-roth/i-ve-always-been-fascinated-by-the-idea-that-there-s-no-such-thing-as/) [Eli Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-roth/) > [If ever I did a man any goodof course it was something exceptional and insignificant compared with the good or evil which I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-ever-i-did-a-man-any-goodof-course-it-was-something-exceptional/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/every-action-that-helps-us-manifest-our-divine-nature-more-and-more/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [I do conscientiously and sincerely believe that the Order of Freemasonry, if not the greatest, is one of the greatest moral and political evils…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-quincy-adams/i-do-conscientiously-and-sincerely-believe-that-the-order-of/) [John Quincy Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-quincy-adams/) > [The Republicans do not look on the Democrats as the evil empire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-safire/the-republicans-do-not-look-on-the-democrats-as-the-evil-empire/) [William Safire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-safire/) > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-done-out-of-love-always-takes-place-beyond-good-and-evil/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ Evil cannot be "treated" -- nor should it be. Evil has to \[be\] confronted and destroyed and it matters not why the evil is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-o-reilly/evil-cannot-be-treated-nor-should-it-be-evil-has-to-be-confronted-and/) [Bill O'Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-o-reilly/) > [The evil which does me no harm is like the good which in no wise avails me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/the-evil-which-does-me-no-harm-is-like-the-good-which-in-no-wise/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/attack-the-evil-that-is-within-yourself-rather-than-attacking-the/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. 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