--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: War cannot be used as a means to prevent…" description: "\"War cannot be used as a means to prevent or abolish wars. ... The idea of a war to prevent war is one of its oldest, and cruelest, tricks.\" — Barbara E..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0a/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_abolish_war-cannot-be-used-as-a-means-to-prevent_3173959.png" --- # War cannot be used as a means to prevent or abolish wars… ![“War cannot be used as a means to prevent or abolish wars. ... The idea of a war to prevent war is one of its oldest, and cruelest, tricks.” quote by Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0a/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_abolish_war-cannot-be-used-as-a-means-to-prevent_3173959.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0a/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_abolish_war-cannot-be-used-as-a-means-to-prevent_3173959.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0a/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_abolish_war-cannot-be-used-as-a-means-to-prevent_3173959.png) > “War cannot be used as a means to prevent or abolish wars. ... The idea of a war to prevent war is one of its oldest, and cruelest, tricks.” [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. War cannot be justified as a tool to stop future wars; such logic is paradoxical and historically cruel. **In simple terms:** War cannot stop war. Key Takeaway Reject war as a solution. Themes peace war ethics politics Mood critical serious Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy debates - peace negotiations - military strategy - public discourse Key Concepts just war theory paradox moral hazard Questions to Reflect On - Can peace be achieved without war? - What alternatives exist to war? A Different Perspective War often escalates conflict rather than preventing it. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [To have security against atomic bombs and against the other biological weapons, we have to prevent war, for if we cannot prevent war every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/to-have-security-against-atomic-bombs-and-against-the-other/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [...the role of the military is to fight and win war and, therefore, prevent war from happening in the first place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/the-role-of-the-military-is-to-fight-and-win-war-and-therefore/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [To suggest that war can prevent war is a base play on words and a despicable form of warmongering. The objective of any who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-bunche/to-suggest-that-war-can-prevent-war-is-a-base-play-on-words-and-a/) [Ralph Bunche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-bunche/) > [The great lesson to be learned in the battered towns of England and the ruined cities of Germany is that the best way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-c-marshall/the-great-lesson-to-be-learned-in-the-battered-towns-of-england-and/) [George C. Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-c-marshall/) > [Make no mistake: the anti-war voices long for us to lose any war they cannot prevent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-peters/make-no-mistake-the-anti-war-voices-long-for-us-to-lose-any-war-they/) [Ralph Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-peters/) > [The only way human beings can win a war is to prevent it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-c-marshall/the-only-way-human-beings-can-win-a-war-is-to-prevent-it/) [George C. 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You're a hero.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-abercrombie/so-you-love-war-i-used-to-think-you-were-a-decent-man-but-i-see-now-i/) [Joe Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-abercrombie/) ## More by Barbara Ehrenreich > [Money does not bring happiness' - only the wherewithal, perhaps, to endure its absence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/money-does-not-bring-happiness-only-the-wherewithal-perhaps-to-endure/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Yes. I think the anti-Wal-Mart is Costco, which pays much better and has much better health benefits and which is profitable and offers low…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/yes-i-think-the-anti-wal-mart-is-costco-which-pays-much-better-and/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Jesus: a wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/jesus-a-wine-guzzling-vagrant-and-precocious-socialist/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [ What would it mean in practice to eliminate all the 'negative people' from one's life \[as demanded by motivational speaker J.P. Maroney\]? It might… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/what-would-it-mean-in-practice-to-eliminate-all-the-negative-people/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Wars produce warlike societies, which in turn make the world more dangerous for other societies, which are thus recruited into being war-prone themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/wars-produce-warlike-societies-which-in-turn-make-the-world-more/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Heads of state are notoriously ill prepared for their mature careers; think of Adolf Hitler (landscape painter), Ho Chi Minh (seaman), and our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/heads-of-state-are-notoriously-ill-prepared-for-their-mature-careers/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Some people make stuff; other people have to buy it. 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Compatibility was not a big issue, nor, of course, was there any tension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/marriage-probably-originated-as-a-straightforward-food-for-sex-deal/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [I became a student of the history of religion. I am fascinated by how religions often center on mystical experience, and in the Old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/i-became-a-student-of-the-history-of-religion-i-am-fascinated-by-how/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [The nation was not founded by habitual groupthinkers. But it stands a fair chance of being destroyed by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/the-nation-was-not-founded-by-habitual-groupthinkers-but-it-stands-a/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [ “You might discover that, nationwide, America's food banks are experiencing 'a torrent of need which \[they\] cannot meet' and that, according to a survey… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/you-might-discover-that-nationwide-america-s-food-banks-are/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [My Turn is the distilled bathwater of Mrs. Reagan's life. It is for the most part sweetish, with a tart edge of rebuke, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/my-turn-is-the-distilled-bathwater-of-mrs-reagan-s-life-it-is-for-the/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) [Explore all 274 Barbara Ehrenreich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) ## More Abolish quotes > [To be creative means to connect. It's to abolish the gap between the body, the mind and the soul, between science and art, between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/to-be-creative-means-to-connect-it-s-to-abolish-the-gap-between-the/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [I will not be a Democrat or a Republican. They are the problem, not the solution. 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The only way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tadatoshi-akiba/environmental-scientists-also-show-us-clearly-that-from-the/) Tadatoshi Akiba > [We should abolish 'work.' 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