--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The war is not meant to be won, it is…" description: "\"The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous.\" — George Orwell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/751/george-orwell-57_1984-movie_the-war-is-not-meant-to-be-won-it-is-mea_2699429.jpg" --- # The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be… ![“The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous.” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/751/george-orwell-57_1984-movie_the-war-is-not-meant-to-be-won-it-is-mea_2699429.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/751/george-orwell-57_1984-movie_the-war-is-not-meant-to-be-won-it-is-mea_2699429.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/751/george-orwell-57_1984-movie_the-war-is-not-meant-to-be-won-it-is-mea_2699429.jpg) > “The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous.” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. War is a perpetual state, not a finite victory, emphasizing endless conflict. **In simple terms:** War is endless, not a win. Key Takeaway Seek peace and resolution. Themes conflict politics philosophy Mood somber urgent Type political philosophical When to use this quote - foreign policy - military planning - activism Key Concepts endless war strategic stalemate Questions to Reflect On - Why do societies accept perpetual war? - How can lasting peace be achieved? A Different Perspective Some wars end with treaties; not all are endless. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [1984 movie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/1984-movie-466/) [Anti war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anti-war/) [Continuous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continuous/) [East asia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/east-asia/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Meant Continuous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meant-continuous-2721039/) [Meant to be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meant-to-be/) [Meant Won](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meant-won-2721041/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War Meant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-meant-2345917/) [Won Meant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/won-meant-2721040/) ## Related quotes > [“It is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous...to keep the very structure of society intact.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-is-not-meant-to-be-won-it-is-meant-to-be-continuous-to-keep-the/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [In accordance to the principles of doublethink, it does not matter if the war is not real, or when it is, that victory is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moore/in-accordance-to-the-principles-of-doublethink-it-does-not-matter-if/) [Michael Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moore/) > [It's not so much staying alive, it's staying human that's important. What counts is that we don't betray each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-s-not-so-much-staying-alive-it-s-staying-human-that-s-important/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [My mum used to always say to me, 'What's meant for you won't pass you by,' and it's true. If I didn't get something,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodie-comer/my-mum-used-to-always-say-to-me-what-s-meant-for-you-won-t-pass-you/) [Jodie Comer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodie-comer/) > [Games are meant to won, but not always.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivek-yadav/games-are-meant-to-won-but-not-always/) [Vivek Yadav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivek-yadav/) > [“It's not a matter of whether the war is not real, or if it is, Victory is not possible. The war is not meant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-s-not-a-matter-of-whether-the-war-is-not-real-or-if-it-is-victory/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous. Hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-war-is-not-meant-to-be-won-it-is-meant-to-be-continuous-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance, this new version is the past and no different past can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/a-hierarchical-society-is-only-possible-on-the-basis-of-poverty-and/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me... aren't you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dustin-hoffman/mrs-robinson-you-re-trying-to-seduce-me-aren-t-you/) [Dustin Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dustin-hoffman/) > [Don't forget I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-roberts/don-t-forget-i-m-just-a-girl-standing-in-front-of-a-boy-asking-him-to/) [Julia Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-roberts/) > [Carpe diem. (Seize the day.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/carpe-diem-seize-the-day/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [They may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-gibson/they-may-take-our-lives-but-they-ll-never-take-our-freedom/) [Mel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-gibson/) > [When someone asks if you're a god, you say YES!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-hudson/when-someone-asks-if-you-re-a-god-you-say-yes/) [Ernie Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-hudson/) > [“Counting noses, Bess missed Andy and went to look for him. She found him finally in the dining room, in the corner at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/counting-noses-bess-missed-andy-and-went-to-look-for-him-she-found/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“Then he picked up the pen and said softly, but clearly, "The first sentence of our first card will read: Mother! The Führer has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-fallada/then-he-picked-up-the-pen-and-said-softly-but-clearly-the-first/) [Hans Fallada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-fallada/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More 1984 movie quotes > [When someone asks if you're a god, you say YES!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-hudson/when-someone-asks-if-you-re-a-god-you-say-yes/) [Ernie Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-hudson/) > [They may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-gibson/they-may-take-our-lives-but-they-ll-never-take-our-freedom/) [Mel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-gibson/) > [Carpe diem. (Seize the day.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/carpe-diem-seize-the-day/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Don't forget I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-roberts/don-t-forget-i-m-just-a-girl-standing-in-front-of-a-boy-asking-him-to/) [Julia Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-roberts/) > [It's not so much staying alive, it's staying human that's important. What counts is that we don't betray each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-s-not-so-much-staying-alive-it-s-staying-human-that-s-important/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me... aren't you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dustin-hoffman/mrs-robinson-you-re-trying-to-seduce-me-aren-t-you/) [Dustin Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dustin-hoffman/) [Browse all 7 1984 movie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/1984-movie-466/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-war-is-not-meant-to-be-won-it-is-meant-to-be-continuous/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "1984 movie" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-war-is-not-meant-to-be-won-it-is-meant-to-be-continuous/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/751/george-orwell-57_1984-movie_the-war-is-not-meant-to-be-won-it-is-mea_2699429.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/751/george-orwell-57_1984-movie_the-war-is-not-meant-to-be-won-it-is-mea_2699429.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/751/george-orwell-57_1984-movie_the-war-is-not-meant-to-be-won-it-is-mea_2699429.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous.” — George Orwell", "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 Orwell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The war is not meant to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-war-is-not-meant-to-be-won-it-is-meant-to-be-continuous/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-war-is-not-meant-to-be-won-it-is-meant-to-be-continuous/#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 } } ] } ```