--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A man who says that no patriot should…" description: "\"A man who says that no patriot should attack the war until it is over... is saying no good son should warn his mother of a cliff until she has fallen.\"..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_fallen_a-man-who-says-that-no-patriot-should-at_1166347.png" --- # A man who says that no patriot should attack the war until… ![“A man who says that no patriot should attack the war until it is over... is saying no good son should warn his mother of a cliff until she has fallen.” quote by Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_fallen_a-man-who-says-that-no-patriot-should-at_1166347.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_fallen_a-man-who-says-that-no-patriot-should-at_1166347.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_fallen_a-man-who-says-that-no-patriot-should-at_1166347.png) > “A man who says that no patriot should attack the war until it is over... is saying no good son should warn his mother of a cliff until she has fallen.” [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Warns that delaying warnings until disaster occurs is irresponsible; action should be taken early. **In simple terms:** Act early, don’t wait for tragedy. Key Takeaway Speak up before harm happens. Themes responsibility warning prevention Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - parenting - public safety - political decisions - risk management Key Concepts ethical duty anticipatory action Questions to Reflect On - When is it right to warn early? - How do you balance caution and alarm? A Different Perspective Early warnings may cause panic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Good Son](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-son/) [Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Patriot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriot/) [Son](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/son/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [A man who says that no patriot should attack the Boer War until it is over is not worth answering intelligently; he is saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/a-man-who-says-that-no-patriot-should-attack-the-boer-war-until-it-is/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [ “A man who says that no patriot should attack the \[war\] until it is over is not worth answering intelligently; he is saying that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/a-man-who-says-that-no-patriot-should-attack-the-war-until-it-is-over-2/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [Whoop it up for liberty! After Ireland is free, says the patriot who won't touch socialism, we will protect all classes, and if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-connolly/whoop-it-up-for-liberty-after-ireland-is-free-says-the-patriot-who/) [James Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-connolly/) > [“He was safe for the moment, here in the playground, but people all over the world were suffering, starving, fleeing, killing one another as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/he-was-safe-for-the-moment-here-in-the-playground-but-people-all-over/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [There's always a reaction based on fear. People assume if you're criticizing a decision to go to war, then you're saying something against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-harris/there-s-always-a-reaction-based-on-fear-people-assume-if-you-re/) [Ed Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-harris/) > [“This is the beginning of the end (talking about the war)... Everyone was saying... But the British Prime Minister said, "This is not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-frank/this-is-the-beginning-of-the-end-talking-about-the-war-everyone-was/) [Anne Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-frank/) > [He even knew the reason why: because enough men had gone off to war saying the time for gardening was when the war was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-even-knew-the-reason-why-because-enough-men-had-gone-off-to-war/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is always a market for a good song and a good melody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-carpenter/there-is-always-a-market-for-a-good-song-and-a-good-melody/) [Richard Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-carpenter/) > [Basically, I listen to voices. 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I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-mcknight/i-hope-at-some-point-in-my-career-when-my-name-is-mentioned-someone/) [Brian McKnight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-mcknight/) > [ I would say a great song \[is where\] you like everything in the song. The lyrics move you, the beat makes you want to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aino-jawo/i-would-say-a-great-song-is-where-you-like-everything-in-the-song-the/) [Aino Jawo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aino-jawo/) > [I got signed with the songwriting deal when I was sixteen and they were really great - my publishers, who to this day are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lights/i-got-signed-with-the-songwriting-deal-when-i-was-sixteen-and-they/) [Lights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lights/) ## More by Gilbert K. Chesterton > [The aim of good prose words is to mean what they say. The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-aim-of-good-prose-words-is-to-mean-what-they-say-the-aim-of-good/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Youth is always too serious, and just now it is too serious about frivolity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/youth-is-always-too-serious-and-just-now-it-is-too-serious-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Tradition does not mean a dead town; it does not mean that the living are dead but that the dead are alive. It means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/tradition-does-not-mean-a-dead-town-it-does-not-mean-that-the-living/) [Gilbert K. 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Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [For Scotland has a double dose of the poison called heredity; the sense of blood in the aristocrat, the sense of doom in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/for-scotland-has-a-double-dose-of-the-poison-called-heredity-the/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Faith is always at a disadvantage; it is a perpetually defeated thing which survives all conquerors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/faith-is-always-at-a-disadvantage-it-is-a-perpetually-defeated-thing/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [A building is akin to dogma; it is insolent, like dogma. Whether or no it is permanent, it claims permanence, like a dogma. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/a-building-is-akin-to-dogma-it-is-insolent-like-dogma-whether-or-no/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The triangle of truisms, of father, mother and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-triangle-of-truisms-of-father-mother-and-child-cannot-be/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Criticism is only words about words, and of what use are words about such words as these?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/criticism-is-only-words-about-words-and-of-what-use-are-words-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place...The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping; not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/what-we-suffer-from-today-is-humility-in-the-wrong-place-the-old/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Plato was only a Bernard Shaw who unfortunately made his jokes in Greek.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/plato-was-only-a-bernard-shaw-who-unfortunately-made-his-jokes-in/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The word good has many meanings...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-word-good-has-many-meanings/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/music-with-dinner-is-an-insult-both-to-the-cook-and-the-violinist/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Eugenics asserts that all men must be so stupid that they cannot manage their own affairs; and also so clever that they can manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/eugenics-asserts-that-all-men-must-be-so-stupid-that-they-cannot/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) [Explore all 868 Gilbert K. Chesterton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## More Fallen quotes > [I have fallen in love with American names, the sharp names that never get fat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/i-have-fallen-in-love-with-american-names-the-sharp-names-that-never/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If, for instance, they have heard something from the postman, they attribute it to a semi-official statement; if they have fallen into conversation with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/if-for-instance-they-have-heard-something-from-the-postman-they/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“He’d fallen for her—for her sometimes amusing, sometimes confounding combination of strength, brains, drive, vulnerability, and mile-wide stubborn streak. He’d fallen for the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samanthe-beck/he-d-fallen-for-her-for-her-sometimes-amusing-sometimes-confounding/) [Samanthe Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samanthe-beck/) > [I collect my tools: sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing, intellect. Night has fallen...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/i-collect-my-tools-sight-smell-touch-taste-hearing-intellect-night/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [Great people are not people who have never fallen down. Greatness has to do with how you get back up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/great-people-are-not-people-who-have-never-fallen-down-greatness-has/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [The tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/the-tyrant-has-fallen-and-iraq-is-free/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [In our own time the whole of Greece has been subject to a low birth rate and a general decrease of the population, owing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/polybius/in-our-own-time-the-whole-of-greece-has-been-subject-to-a-low-birth/) [Polybius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/polybius/) > [However far modern science and techniques have fallen short of their inherent possibilities, they have taught mankind at least one lesson; nothing is impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/however-far-modern-science-and-techniques-have-fallen-short-of-their/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [She knows not loves that kissed her She knows not where. 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