---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: War is war. The only good human being is…"
description: "\"War is war. The only good human being is a dead one.\" — George Orwell"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cca/george-orwell-57_war_war-is-war-the-only-good-human-being-is_1378028.jpg"
---

#  War is war. The only good human being is a dead one.

![“War is war. The only good human being is a dead one.” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cca/george-orwell-57_war_war-is-war-the-only-good-human-being-is_1378028.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cca/george-orwell-57_war_war-is-war-the-only-good-human-being-is_1378028.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cca/george-orwell-57_war_war-is-war-the-only-good-human-being-is_1378028.jpg)

> “War is war. The only good human being is a dead one.”

[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 portrayed as an endless cycle of destruction, and only those who are dead are free from its cruelty.

**In simple terms:** War kills; only death frees from its cruelty.

Key Takeaway

Recognize the cost of war.

Themes

war humanity freedom

Mood

somber critical

Type

political philosophical

When to use this quote

- political debate
- peace activism
- historical analysis

Key Concepts

totalitarianism nihilism

Questions to Reflect On

- Is war ever truly necessary?
- How does dehumanization perpetuate conflict?

A Different Perspective

War can be justified by those in power.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead/) [Good human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-human/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Human Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-dead-3822430/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-good-342681/)

## Related quotes

> [“The only good human being is a dead one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-only-good-human-being-is-a-dead-one/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [“No sentimentality, comrade...The only good human being is a dead one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/no-sentimentality-comrade-the-only-good-human-being-is-a-dead-one/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [Shyama was very good looking and a good human being. She was warm and affectionate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/waheeda-rehman/shyama-was-very-good-looking-and-a-good-human-being-she-was-warm-and/)

[Waheeda Rehman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/waheeda-rehman/)

> [In war, good guys always become bad guys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/in-war-good-guys-always-become-bad-guys/)

[Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/)

> [War has been good to me from a financial standpoint but I don't want to make money that way. I don't want blood money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/war-has-been-good-to-me-from-a-financial-standpoint-but-i-don-t-want/)

[Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/)

> [All that is good in Heaven and on Earth is made of love. Maybe that wasn’t your plan when you created the universe—maybe love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-kate/all-that-is-good-in-heaven-and-on-earth-is-made-of-love-maybe-that/)

[Lauren Kate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-kate/)

> [A nation's ability to fight a modern war is as good as its technological ability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-whittle/a-nation-s-ability-to-fight-a-modern-war-is-as-good-as-its/)

[Frank Whittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-whittle/)

> [War is good for absolutely nothing, because no matter how far and wide apart we may live, we're all the same under the skin.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-lunghi/war-is-good-for-absolutely-nothing-because-no-matter-how-far-and-wide/)

[Cherie Lunghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-lunghi/)

> [War what is it good for? It's good for business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-bragg/war-what-is-it-good-for-it-s-good-for-business/)

[Billy Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-bragg/)

> [War, what's it good for? Absolutely nothing. Say it again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-starr/war-what-s-it-good-for-absolutely-nothing-say-it-again/)

[Edwin Starr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-starr/)

> [Before you can begin to think about politics at all, you have to abandon the notion that there is a war between good men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/before-you-can-begin-to-think-about-politics-at-all-you-have-to/)

[Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/)

> [“Until we’re dead, we Service people, the world will always be in danger of another war. We had too good a time in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevil-shute/until-we-re-dead-we-service-people-the-world-will-always-be-in-danger/)

[Nevil Shute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevil-shute/)

> [All that is good in Heaven and on Earth is born of love. This war is not just. This war is not good. Love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-kate/all-that-is-good-in-heaven-and-on-earth-is-born-of-love-this-war-is/)

[Lauren Kate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-kate/)

> [“There is no glory in war—only good men dying terrible deaths.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-g-moore/there-is-no-glory-in-war-only-good-men-dying-terrible-deaths/)

[Harold G. Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-g-moore/)

> [It is courage that vanquishes in war, and not good weapons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/it-is-courage-that-vanquishes-in-war-and-not-good-weapons/)

[Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/)

## 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 Dead quotes

> [I'm going to stay on stage until I drop dead. Then I'm going to have myself stuffed, like Trigger, and I'm going to put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-reynolds/i-m-going-to-stay-on-stage-until-i-drop-dead-then-i-m-going-to-have/)

[Debbie Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-reynolds/)

> [I can't be a legend yet. I'm not dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/i-can-t-be-a-legend-yet-i-m-not-dead/)

[Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/)

> [Okay, so I'll admit I'm curious. Big deal. We both know what that leads to. Dead cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/okay-so-i-ll-admit-i-m-curious-big-deal-we-both-know-what-that-leads/)

[Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/)

> [It's a really dark, emotionally wrenching world that we've created on 'The Walking Dead.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-holden/it-s-a-really-dark-emotionally-wrenching-world-that-we-ve-created-on/)

[Laurie Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-holden/)

> [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/)

[Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/)

> [“I’m just–” She wanted to say “not in the mood,” but that was not only a cliché but a vast understatement. She was dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-mcintosh/i-m-just-she-wanted-to-say-not-in-the-mood-but-that-was-not-only-a/)

[Will McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-mcintosh/)

> [Library: A place where the dead lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/library-a-place-where-the-dead-lie/)

[Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/)

> [When we dead awaken ... we see that we have never lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/when-we-dead-awaken-we-see-that-we-have-never-lived/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [Rather be dead than cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-cobain/rather-be-dead-than-cool/)

[Kurt Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-cobain/)

> [He was obviously dead. But since he was a vampire that wasn't as hopless a thing as it might have been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/he-was-obviously-dead-but-since-he-was-a-vampire-that-wasn-t-as/)

[Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/)

> [Ireland starts for me with the end of 'The Dead,' which my father read to me from his desk in his basement office in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jeremiah-sullivan/ireland-starts-for-me-with-the-end-of-the-dead-which-my-father-read/)

[John Jeremiah Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jeremiah-sullivan/)

> [“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.’ – Ben Franklin,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/three-may-keep-a-secret-if-two-of-them-are-dead-ben-franklin/)

[Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/)

> [I intend to do the Penn &amp; Teller show until they pry my cheesy magic wand from my cold dead fingers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/i-intend-to-do-the-penn-teller-show-until-they-pry-my-cheesy-magic/)

[Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/)

> ['Misery' left a lasting mark on me. When I die, it will be 'Kathy 'Misery' Bates Is Dead.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-bates/misery-left-a-lasting-mark-on-me-when-i-die-it-will-be-kathy-misery/)

[Kathy Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-bates/)

> [The only good Indian is a dead Indian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-tecumseh-sherman/the-only-good-indian-is-a-dead-indian/)

[William Tecumseh Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-tecumseh-sherman/)

[Browse all 3,376 Dead quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "War is war. The only good human being is a dead one.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "George Orwell"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/war-is-war-the-only-good-human-being-is-a-dead-one/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Dead"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/war-is-war-the-only-good-human-being-is-a-dead-one/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cca/george-orwell-57_war_war-is-war-the-only-good-human-being-is_1378028.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cca/george-orwell-57_war_war-is-war-the-only-good-human-being-is_1378028.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cca/george-orwell-57_war_war-is-war-the-only-good-human-being-is_1378028.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“War is war. The only good human being is a dead one.” — 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": "War is war. The only good...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/war-is-war-the-only-good-human-being-is-a-dead-one/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/war-is-war-the-only-good-human-being-is-a-dead-one/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
