--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think I'm still just as conflicted…" description: "\"I think I'm still just as conflicted about the war as I always was. On the one hand, I was a soldier carrying out his duty, following his allegiance to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ef/dave-abrams-35936_allegiance_i-think-i-m-still-just-as-conflicted-abo_1527178.jpg" --- # I think I'm still just as conflicted about the war as I… ![“I think I'm still just as conflicted about the war as I always was. On the one hand, I was a soldier carrying out his duty, following his allegiance to his country and to the mission at hand. But yet, there was always this unease plaguing me. "What are we doing here?" "Are we really fixing this…” quote by Dave Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ef/dave-abrams-35936_allegiance_i-think-i-m-still-just-as-conflicted-abo_1527178.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ef/dave-abrams-35936_allegiance_i-think-i-m-still-just-as-conflicted-abo_1527178.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ef/dave-abrams-35936_allegiance_i-think-i-m-still-just-as-conflicted-abo_1527178.jpg) > “I think I'm still just as conflicted about the war as I always was. On the one hand, I was a soldier carrying out his duty, following his allegiance to his country and to the mission at hand. But yet, there was always this unease plaguing me. "What are we doing here?" "Are we really fixing this country or are we doing more harm than good?" And the most pressing question: "How do we pull ourselves out of this quicksand?" I think I'm still there in that white space you mentioned, trying to get clarity for myself on what this war did to us as a nation.” [Dave Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-abrams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker feels torn between duty as a soldier and moral doubts about the war’s purpose and impact, seeking clarity on its national consequences. **In simple terms:** A soldier struggles with duty versus moral doubt about war. Key Takeaway Reflect on personal values versus imposed duties. Themes conflict duty morality war national identity Mood anxious reflective hopeful Type personal philosophical political When to use this quote - military service - political debate - public discourse - personal therapy Key Concepts cognitive dissonance ethical dilemma identity crisis Questions to Reflect On - What does duty mean when it conflicts with conscience? - How can societies reconcile war actions with national values? A Different Perspective War may be justified by some but still cause deep personal and societal harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Allegiance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allegiance/) [Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) [Conflicted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflicted/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Harm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harm/) [Missions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/missions/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Patriotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism/) [Quicksand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quicksand/) [Soldier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soldier/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Unease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unease/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [White space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-space/) ## Related quotes > [Plenty of white space and generous line spacing,and don't make the type size too miserly. Then you will be assured of a product fit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giambattista-bodoni/plenty-of-white-space-and-generous-line-spacing-and-don-t-make-the/) Giambattista Bodoni > [In the printed page the only real things are the paper and the ink; the white spaces play the same part in aiding the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/in-the-printed-page-the-only-real-things-are-the-paper-and-the-ink/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [White space is to be regarded as an active element, not a passive background.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-tschichold/white-space-is-to-be-regarded-as-an-active-element-not-a-passive/) [Jan Tschichold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-tschichold/) > [Witness Donald Trump's current presidential campaign. So first people need to find the white spaces, the unexploited or underexploited niches where there is less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/witness-donald-trump-s-current-presidential-campaign-so-first-people/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) > [“Nobody will do their best work until they have lots of white space on their calendars.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-kelly/nobody-will-do-their-best-work-until-they-have-lots-of-white-space-on/) [Matthew Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-kelly/) > [“Scrawled in the album’s white space, in an angry deeply-pushed biro that indented even the next page, were some words paraphrased from Tennyson’s Locksley…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-drinkwater/scrawled-in-the-album-s-white-space-in-an-angry-deeply-pushed-biro/) [Karl Drinkwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-drinkwater/) > [Mausoleum air and anguished pauses: If this production were a poem, it would be mostly white space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-corliss/mausoleum-air-and-anguished-pauses-if-this-production-were-a-poem-it/) [Richard Corliss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-corliss/) > [I don't think there is anything wrong with white space. I don't think it's a problem to have a blank wall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-leibovitz/i-don-t-think-there-is-anything-wrong-with-white-space-i-don-t-think/) [Annie Leibovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-leibovitz/) > [Singapore gives 10% "white space" time to all of its teachers to come up with their own innovations outside of the official curriculum. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-hargreaves/singapore-gives-10-white-space-time-to-all-of-its-teachers-to-come-up/) [Andy Hargreaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-hargreaves/) > [You can tell it's a poem because it's swimming in a little gel pack of white space. That shows it's a poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/you-can-tell-it-s-a-poem-because-it-s-swimming-in-a-little-gel-pack/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [Memory doesn't come as a straight narrative. It comes in small moments with all this white space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/memory-doesn-t-come-as-a-straight-narrative-it-comes-in-small-moments/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [“By the time I got to high school, I had learned to be more cautious about revealing my dreams. I was reading—and therefore writing—adventure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/by-the-time-i-got-to-high-school-i-had-learned-to-be-more-cautious/) [Téa Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [I really felt like there was a white space in the market in the jewelry industry. There was very, very overpriced things that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendra-scott/i-really-felt-like-there-was-a-white-space-in-the-market-in-the/) [Kendra Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendra-scott/) > [There must be an open space in the paintings - an entry space for the viewer, or even for me. Just white space where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norbert-bisky/there-must-be-an-open-space-in-the-paintings-an-entry-space-for-the/) [Norbert Bisky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norbert-bisky/) > [I'm working with fragments a lot of the time and the connective tissue isn't there yet. I think of it the way comics work.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-m-working-with-fragments-a-lot-of-the-time-and-the-connective/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) ## More by Dave Abrams > [If Fobbit leaves a reader feeling stranded in some bland in-between territory, then I haven't done my job. But having said all that, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-abrams/if-fobbit-leaves-a-reader-feeling-stranded-in-some-bland-in-between/) [Dave Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-abrams/) > [Seeing any war through the distortion of comedy is healthy. 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I mean, look at the brilliant work which was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-abrams/i-think-it-s-possible-perhaps-even-necessary-to-find-comedy-in-any/) [Dave Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-abrams/) > [It's disingenous for me to say that I wasn't trying to write a moral novel. By its very nature as a novel about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-abrams/it-s-disingenous-for-me-to-say-that-i-wasn-t-trying-to-write-a-moral/) [Dave Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-abrams/) > [I wasn't trying to write a corrective novel - that would just end up tasting like medicine, and I tried to stay away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-abrams/i-wasn-t-trying-to-write-a-corrective-novel-that-would-just-end-up/) [Dave Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-abrams/) > [With a profession such as investing, people see the 'doing' as the buying and selling. It is difficult to come home from work, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-abrams/with-a-profession-such-as-investing-people-see-the-doing-as-the/) [Dave Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-abrams/) > [The careful choice of words, the scrubbing of language, the calculated images we presented to the external audiences - those were all major parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-abrams/the-careful-choice-of-words-the-scrubbing-of-language-the-calculated/) [Dave Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-abrams/) > [The near impossible. If no one believed in the impossible there would be nothing left to dream about](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-abrams/the-near-impossible-if-no-one-believed-in-the-impossible-there-would/) [Dave Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-abrams/) > [Wars always evolve over time, don't they? 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Let us live it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-cleaver/let-s-do-more-than-say-the-pledge-of-allegiance-let-us-live-it/) [Emanuel Cleaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-cleaver/) > [All of us ... should remember that no amount of flag-waving, pledging allegiance, or fervent singing of the national anthem is evidence that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/all-of-us-should-remember-that-no-amount-of-flag-waving-pledging/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [“We're not to do everything man tells us to do. We are to obey the Lord Jesus Christ, and our allegiance to the state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-c-morecraft-iii/we-re-not-to-do-everything-man-tells-us-to-do-we-are-to-obey-the-lord/) [Joseph C. 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