--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: War makes strange giant creatures out of…" description: "\"War makes strange giant creatures out of us little routine men who inhabit the earth.\" — Ernie Pyle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00f/ernie-pyle-17548_animals_war-makes-strange-giant-creatures-out-of_231032.jpg" --- # War makes strange giant creatures out of us little routine… ![“War makes strange giant creatures out of us little routine men who inhabit the earth.” quote by Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00f/ernie-pyle-17548_animals_war-makes-strange-giant-creatures-out-of_231032.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00f/ernie-pyle-17548_animals_war-makes-strange-giant-creatures-out-of_231032.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00f/ernie-pyle-17548_animals_war-makes-strange-giant-creatures-out-of_231032.jpg) > “War makes strange giant creatures out of us little routine men who inhabit the earth.” [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. War transforms ordinary people into monstrous figures, highlighting how conflict reshapes identity and morality. **In simple terms:** War turns regular people into monsters. Key Takeaway Recognize war’s dehumanizing effect. Themes war identity humanity transformation psychology Mood somber thoughtful Type historical reflective When to use this quote - combat zones - post‑war societies - civilian life - military training Key Concepts social change moral erosion psychological impact Questions to Reflect On - How does war change personal identity? - Can humanity retain dignity in conflict? A Different Perspective The quote may exaggerate for effect, ignoring resilience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Routine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/routine/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [How do we know that we have a right to kill creatures that we are so little above, as dogs, for our curiosity or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/how-do-we-know-that-we-have-a-right-to-kill-creatures-that-we-are-so/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [“and You do not live in temples built by hands. And You are not served by human hands, as if You needed anything, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/and-you-do-not-live-in-temples-built-by-hands-and-you-are-not-served/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [The world men inhabit is rather bleak. It is a world full of doubt and confusion, where vulnerability must be hidden, not shared; where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-ford/the-world-men-inhabit-is-rather-bleak-it-is-a-world-full-of-doubt-and/) Anna Ford > [War makes rattling good history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/war-makes-rattling-good-history/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [War makes men barbarous because, to take part in it, one must harden oneself against all regret, all appreciation of delicacy and sensitive values.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/war-makes-men-barbarous-because-to-take-part-in-it-one-must-harden/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [He that makes a good war makes a good peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/he-that-makes-a-good-war-makes-a-good-peace/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [If this war makes anything clear, it is that Israel can do nothing to appease the Muslim animus against her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/if-this-war-makes-anything-clear-it-is-that-israel-can-do-nothing-to/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [War makes strangers bedfellows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-winsor/war-makes-strangers-bedfellows/) [Kathleen Winsor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-winsor/) > [War makes murderers out of otherwise decent people. 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She”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-arenson/war-makes-victims-of-us-all-she/) [Daniel Arenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-arenson/) > [War makes thieves and peace hangs them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/war-makes-thieves-and-peace-hangs-them/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [It is the object only of war that makes it honorable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/it-is-the-object-only-of-war-that-makes-it-honorable/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“And what other kind of man would you want leading you into battle?” he says, reading my Noise. “What other kind of man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/and-what-other-kind-of-man-would-you-want-leading-you-into-battle-he/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [War makes early risers of us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-fellowes/war-makes-early-risers-of-us-all/) [Julian Fellowes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-fellowes/) ## More by Ernie Pyle > [At last we are in it up to our necks, and everything is changed, even your outlook on life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/at-last-we-are-in-it-up-to-our-necks-and-everything-is-changed-even/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [For a lifetime I had bathed with becoming regularity, and thought the world would come to an end unless I changed my socks every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/for-a-lifetime-i-had-bathed-with-becoming-regularity-and-thought-the/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [Marines have a cynical approach to war. They believe in three things; liberty, payday and that when two Marines are together in a fight,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/marines-have-a-cynical-approach-to-war-they-believe-in-three-things/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [Say what you will, nothing can make a complete soldier except battle experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/say-what-you-will-nothing-can-make-a-complete-soldier-except-battle/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [I've really been sick with this cold, but I think I might have kept the columns going anyhow except I was just so low…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/i-ve-really-been-sick-with-this-cold-but-i-think-i-might-have-kept/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [There is no sense in the struggle, but there is no choice but to struggle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/there-is-no-sense-in-the-struggle-but-there-is-no-choice-but-to/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [About every two minutes a new wave of planes would be over. The motors seemed to grind rather than roar, and to have an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/about-every-two-minutes-a-new-wave-of-planes-would-be-over-the-motors/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [For me war has become a flat, black depression without highlights, a revulsion of the mind and an exhaustion of the spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/for-me-war-has-become-a-flat-black-depression-without-highlights-a/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [But to the fighting soldier that phase of the war is behind. It was left behind after his first battle. His blood is up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/but-to-the-fighting-soldier-that-phase-of-the-war-is-behind-it-was/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [“In Europe we felt that our enemies, horrible and deadly as they were, were still people. ... But out here I soon gathered that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/in-europe-we-felt-that-our-enemies-horrible-and-deadly-as-they-were/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [I've been immersed in it too long. My spirit is wobbly and my mind is confused. The hurt has become too great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/i-ve-been-immersed-in-it-too-long-my-spirit-is-wobbly-and-my-mind-is/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [ \[I\]nstead of the usual "Why can't we make movies more like real life?" I think a more pertinent question is "Why can't real life… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/i-nstead-of-the-usual-why-can-t-we-make-movies-more-like-real-life-i/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [I love the infantry because they are the underdogs. They are the mud-rain-frost-and-wind boys. They have no comforts, and they even learn to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/i-love-the-infantry-because-they-are-the-underdogs-they-are-the-mud/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [Thoughts are wonderful things, that they can bring two people, so far apart, into harmony and understanding for even a little while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/thoughts-are-wonderful-things-that-they-can-bring-two-people-so-far/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [“To me, the summer wind in the Midwest is one of the most melancholy things in all life. It comes from so far away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/to-me-the-summer-wind-in-the-midwest-is-one-of-the-most-melancholy/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) [Explore all 37 Ernie Pyle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) ## More Animals quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It’s a small thing to help one animal, but to that one animal it’s a big thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-baur/it-s-a-small-thing-to-help-one-animal-but-to-that-one-animal-it-s-a/) [Gene Baur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-baur/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/all-these-creatures-spend-their-time-explaining-realizing-happily/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [We're not very dangerous animals; we don't have a horn like a rhino or quills like a porcupine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/we-re-not-very-dangerous-animals-we-don-t-have-a-horn-like-a-rhino-or/) [Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/) > [We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-need-in-a-special-way-to-work-twice-as-hard-to-help-people/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [“Plenty of animals had pets, but few were more devoted than the mouse, who owned a baby corn snake—“A rescue snake, she’d be quick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/plenty-of-animals-had-pets-but-few-were-more-devoted-than-the-mouse/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [No creature can attain a higher grade of nature without ceasing to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/no-creature-can-attain-a-higher-grade-of-nature-without-ceasing-to/) [Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/) > [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/) [Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/) [Browse all 6,813 Animals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "War makes strange giant creatures out of us little routine men who inhabit the earth.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernie Pyle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/war-makes-strange-giant-creatures-out-of-us-little-routine-men-who/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animals" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/war-makes-strange-giant-creatures-out-of-us-little-routine-men-who/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00f/ernie-pyle-17548_animals_war-makes-strange-giant-creatures-out-of_231032.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00f/ernie-pyle-17548_animals_war-makes-strange-giant-creatures-out-of_231032.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00f/ernie-pyle-17548_animals_war-makes-strange-giant-creatures-out-of_231032.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“War makes strange giant creatures out of us little routine men who inhabit the earth.” — Ernie Pyle", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ernie Pyle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "War makes strange giant creatures out...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/war-makes-strange-giant-creatures-out-of-us-little-routine-men-who/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/war-makes-strange-giant-creatures-out-of-us-little-routine-men-who/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```