--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was disappointed, not because we had…" description: "\"I was disappointed, not because we had lost the war but because our people had allowed it to go on for so many years, instead of heeding the few voices..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/george-grosz-24840_disappointed_i-was-disappointed-not-because-we-had-lo_413735.jpg" --- # I was disappointed, not because we had lost the war but… ![“I was disappointed, not because we had lost the war but because our people had allowed it to go on for so many years, instead of heeding the few voices of protest against all that mass insanity and slaughter.” quote by George Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/george-grosz-24840_disappointed_i-was-disappointed-not-because-we-had-lo_413735.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/george-grosz-24840_disappointed_i-was-disappointed-not-because-we-had-lo_413735.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/george-grosz-24840_disappointed_i-was-disappointed-not-because-we-had-lo_413735.jpg) > “I was disappointed, not because we had lost the war but because our people had allowed it to go on for so many years, instead of heeding the few voices of protest against all that mass insanity and slaughter.” [George Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grosz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author laments that society ignored early warnings, allowing prolonged conflict and mass suffering. **In simple terms:** Ignoring early protests leads to long wars and tragedy. Key Takeaway Listen to dissent early to prevent catastrophe. Themes war apathy protest mass violence Mood somber reflective Type political philosophical When to use this quote - policy making - education - media reporting - peace activism Key Concepts historical cycles moral responsibility collective denial Questions to Reflect On - What mechanisms can amplify minority warnings? - How can societies balance dissent with decisive action? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on protest can ignore pragmatic solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Disappointed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappointed/) [Insanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insanity/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Protest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protest/) [Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slaughter/) [Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voice/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [You know, a lot of people think that just 'cause you work out, lift weights, eat right, and do what people tell you to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-iglesias/you-know-a-lot-of-people-think-that-just-cause-you-work-out-lift/) [Gabriel Iglesias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-iglesias/) > [Why do people measure life by the years instead of how good the years were?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-iglesias/why-do-people-measure-life-by-the-years-instead-of-how-good-the-years/) [Gabriel Iglesias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-iglesias/) > [“If there had been mile markers on the side of the road, they would have clicked off the years instead of the miles: 1994...1982...1974.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silas-house/if-there-had-been-mile-markers-on-the-side-of-the-road-they-would/) [Silas House](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silas-house/) > [“How much different might this world be if we had someone such as Einstein for even just another 30 years? Instead,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rj-lawrence/how-much-different-might-this-world-be-if-we-had-someone-such-as/) RJ Lawrence > [There is no reason we can't design a car to last for 35 years instead of six or seven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-smil/there-is-no-reason-we-can-t-design-a-car-to-last-for-35-years-instead/) [Vaclav Smil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-smil/) > [Curiously, it is hard not to be a little optimistic about the future for Zimbabwe (as nobody at all calls it yet, except in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-hoggart/curiously-it-is-hard-not-to-be-a-little-optimistic-about-the-future/) [Simon Hoggart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-hoggart/) > [“France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-de-gaulle/france-has-lost-a-battle-but-france-has-not-lost-the-war/) [Charles de Gaulle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-de-gaulle/) > [ I was lost, and that war \[in Vietnam\] was very alienating - not that I was against it or for it, but I was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-stone/i-was-lost-and-that-war-in-vietnam-was-very-alienating-not-that-i-was/) [Oliver Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-stone/) > [Nothing is lost by peace; everything may be lost by war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-xii/nothing-is-lost-by-peace-everything-may-be-lost-by-war/) [Pope Pius XII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-xii/) > [America has never lost a war. 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Will Assad's enemies lose, too?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fisk/israel-lost-its-war-will-assad-s-enemies-lose-too/) [Robert Fisk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fisk/) > [The future is won or lost in the war of ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-overmire/the-future-is-won-or-lost-in-the-war-of-ideas/) [Laurence Overmire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-overmire/) > [The United States never lost a war or won a conference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/the-united-states-never-lost-a-war-or-won-a-conference/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [After the war, there was no industry. We lost the war. We had our whole city destroyed. No money. No studio. No film. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dino-de-laurentiis/after-the-war-there-was-no-industry-we-lost-the-war-we-had-our-whole/) [Dino De Laurentiis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dino-de-laurentiis/) ## More by George Grosz > [The cult of individuality and personality, which promotes painters and poets only to promote itself, is really a business. The greater the 'genius' of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/the-cult-of-individuality-and-personality-which-promotes-painters-and/) [George Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grosz/) > [What can I say about the First World War, a war in which I served as an infantryman, a war I hated at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/what-can-i-say-about-the-first-world-war-a-war-in-which-i-served-as/) [George Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grosz/) > [The war was a mirror; it reflected man's every virtue and every vice, and if you looked closely, like an artist at his drawings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/the-war-was-a-mirror-it-reflected-man-s-every-virtue-and-every-vice/) [George Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grosz/) > [Very little changed fundamentally, except that the proud German soldier had turned into a defeated bundle of misery and the great German army had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/very-little-changed-fundamentally-except-that-the-proud-german/) [George Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grosz/) > [In 1916 I was discharged from military service, or rather, given a sort of leave of absence on the understanding that I might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/in-1916-i-was-discharged-from-military-service-or-rather-given-a-sort/) [George Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grosz/) > [I don't even like to talk about it. 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They keep a standing 'art' to defend their collapsing culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/it-s-an-old-ploy-of-the-bourgeoisie-they-keep-a-standing-art-to/) [George Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grosz/) > [My drawings and paintings were done as an act of protest; I was trying by means of my work to convince the world that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/my-drawings-and-paintings-were-done-as-an-act-of-protest-i-was-trying/) [George Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grosz/) > [Peace was declared, but not all of us were drunk with joy or stricken blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/peace-was-declared-but-not-all-of-us-were-drunk-with-joy-or-stricken/) [George Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grosz/) > [I had grown up in a humanist atmosphere, and war to me was never anything but horror, mutilation and senseless destruction, and I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/i-had-grown-up-in-a-humanist-atmosphere-and-war-to-me-was-never/) [George Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grosz/) > [In the end, they pardoned me and packed me off to a home for the shell-shocked. 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I don't need to see it through to the end. When it actually happens,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/sometimes-it-s-just-enough-for-me-to-have-the-idea-i-don-t-need-to/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [If you expect the worst from a person you can never be disappointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/if-you-expect-the-worst-from-a-person-you-can-never-be-disappointed/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Somebody said that part of my reaction to British cinema is actually, paradoxically, a patriotic one. I'm so disappointed that we're not better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brownlow/somebody-said-that-part-of-my-reaction-to-british-cinema-is-actually/) [Kevin Brownlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brownlow/) > [I don't hate you, i m just disappointed you turned into everything you said you'd never be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-hate-you-i-m-just-disappointed-you-turned-into-everything-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Every producer in Hollywood had set me down as a type. I was both amused and disappointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bela-lugosi/every-producer-in-hollywood-had-set-me-down-as-a-type-i-was-both/) [Bela Lugosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bela-lugosi/) > [I just hate meetings. 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We will not be disappointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-maria-martini/it-is-always-the-time-of-hope-confidence-and-love-everything-passes/) Carlo Maria Martini [Browse all 1,145 Disappointed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappointed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was disappointed, not because we had lost the war but because our people had allowed it to go on for so many years, instead of heeding the few voices of protest against all that mass insanity and slaughter.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Grosz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/i-was-disappointed-not-because-we-had-lost-the-war-but-because-our/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Disappointed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/i-was-disappointed-not-because-we-had-lost-the-war-but-because-our/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/george-grosz-24840_disappointed_i-was-disappointed-not-because-we-had-lo_413735.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/george-grosz-24840_disappointed_i-was-disappointed-not-because-we-had-lo_413735.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/george-grosz-24840_disappointed_i-was-disappointed-not-because-we-had-lo_413735.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was disappointed, not because we had lost the war but because our people had allowed it to go on for so…” — George Grosz", "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": "George Grosz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grosz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I was disappointed, not because we...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/i-was-disappointed-not-because-we-had-lost-the-war-but-because-our/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/i-was-disappointed-not-because-we-had-lost-the-war-but-because-our/#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 } } ] } ```