--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The more dubious and uncertain an…" description: "\"The more dubious and uncertain an instrument violence has become in international relations, the more it has gained in reputation and appeal in domesti..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/hannah-arendt-610_dubious_the-more-dubious-and-uncertain-an-instru_3103947.jpg" --- # The more dubious and uncertain an instrument violence has… ![“The more dubious and uncertain an instrument violence has become in international relations, the more it has gained in reputation and appeal in domestic affairs, specifically in the matter of revolution.” quote by Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/hannah-arendt-610_dubious_the-more-dubious-and-uncertain-an-instru_3103947.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/hannah-arendt-610_dubious_the-more-dubious-and-uncertain-an-instru_3103947.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/hannah-arendt-610_dubious_the-more-dubious-and-uncertain-an-instru_3103947.jpg) > “The more dubious and uncertain an instrument violence has become in international relations, the more it has gained in reputation and appeal in domestic affairs, specifically in the matter of revolution.” [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Violence in international relations has become ambiguous, yet its domestic appeal grows, especially as a tool for revolutionary change. **In simple terms:** Domestic violence gains appeal as international violence blurs. Key Takeaway Recognize the shifting role of violence in politics. Themes politics violence revolution international relations Mood cautious analytical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - political analysis - policy making - activism - education Key Concepts power dynamics statecraft social upheaval Questions to Reflect On - What drives societies to favor violent solutions domestically? - How can non‑violent alternatives be made compelling? A Different Perspective Violence may be justified as a means to an end, ignoring moral costs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [International relations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/international-relations/) [Reputation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reputation/) [Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) ## Related quotes > [“The world at large is finally waking up to the fact that we can no longer ignore the victims of intimate violence and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christiane-northrup/the-world-at-large-is-finally-waking-up-to-the-fact-that-we-can-no/) [Christiane Northrup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christiane-northrup/) > [When a man carries an instrument of violence, he'll always find the justification to use it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-k-vaughan/when-a-man-carries-an-instrument-of-violence-he-ll-always-find-the/) [Brian K. Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-k-vaughan/) > [“Since the human mind is the primary weapon of the human being, it is also therefore the primary and most significant instrument of violence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/since-the-human-mind-is-the-primary-weapon-of-the-human-being-it-is/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [Decision-making power, whether it's on foreign affairs or domestic affairs, is concentrated in the White House in a reasonably small circle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/decision-making-power-whether-it-s-on-foreign-affairs-or-domestic/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [I am of certain convinced that the greatest heroes are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs whilst the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/i-am-of-certain-convinced-that-the-greatest-heroes-are-those-who-do/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [We have never meddled in the domestic affairs of any state and we never will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/we-have-never-meddled-in-the-domestic-affairs-of-any-state-and-we/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [Cautiously avoid speaking of the domestic affairs either of yourself, or of other people. 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Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-weaver/) > [Sometimes it's a fraught, kind of laden world of performance that I think can be really dubious, but it's also super fun to almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-hecker/sometimes-it-s-a-fraught-kind-of-laden-world-of-performance-that-i/) [Tim Hecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-hecker/) > [The diversity of India cannot thrive on facile attempts to create the homogeneous category of "Indian." Nor can it thrive on dubious attempts to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nyla-ali-khan/the-diversity-of-india-cannot-thrive-on-facile-attempts-to-create-the/) [Nyla Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nyla-ali-khan/) > [It would have been easier to fight alone with inadequate forces than to have to accept...responsibility for our ally's lack of fighting qualities and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-kesselring/it-would-have-been-easier-to-fight-alone-with-inadequate-forces-than/) [Albert Kesselring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-kesselring/) ## More by Hannah Arendt > [“It means, first, that everything that appears in public can be seen and heard by everybody and has the widest possible publicity. For us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-means-first-that-everything-that-appears-in-public-can-be-seen-and/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Without being forgiven, released from the consequences of what we have done, our capacity to act would, as it were, be confined to one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/without-being-forgiven-released-from-the-consequences-of-what-we-have/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-really-distinguishes-this-generation-in-all-countries-from/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [The practice of violence, like all action, changes the world, but the most probable change is a more violent world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-practice-of-violence-like-all-action-changes-the-world-but-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“Nationalism always preserved this initial intimate loyalty to the government and never quite lost its function of preserving a precarious balance between nation and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/nationalism-always-preserved-this-initial-intimate-loyalty-to-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [There is all the difference in the world between the criminal's avoiding the public eye and the civil disobedience's taking the law into his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/there-is-all-the-difference-in-the-world-between-the-criminal-s/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“What imperialists actually wanted was expansion of political power without the foundation of the body politic. Imperialist expansion had been touched off by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-imperialists-actually-wanted-was-expansion-of-political-power/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [the greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. 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Nor can it thrive on dubious attempts to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nyla-ali-khan/the-diversity-of-india-cannot-thrive-on-facile-attempts-to-create-the/) [Nyla Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nyla-ali-khan/) > [Sometimes it's a fraught, kind of laden world of performance that I think can be really dubious, but it's also super fun to almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-hecker/sometimes-it-s-a-fraught-kind-of-laden-world-of-performance-that-i/) [Tim Hecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-hecker/) > [Man is constantly being assured that he has more power than ever before in history, but his daily experience is one of powerlessness. ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-weaver/man-is-constantly-being-assured-that-he-has-more-power-than-ever/) [Richard M. Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-weaver/) > [I’m saying language is a passport. A dubious, dangerous passport too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaolu-guo/i-m-saying-language-is-a-passport-a-dubious-dangerous-passport-too/) [Xiaolu Guo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaolu-guo/) > [So, Beav, tell me about yourself." "I'm Blue." "Sweetheart, if I had your dubious taste in men, I wouldn't be too happy, either." "My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/so-beav-tell-me-about-yourself-i-m-blue-sweetheart-if-i-had-your/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [Writing is to descend like a miner to the depths of the mine with a lamp on your forehead, a light whose dubious brightness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-cendrars/writing-is-to-descend-like-a-miner-to-the-depths-of-the-mine-with-a/) [Blaise Cendrars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-cendrars/) > [It should seem that Negroes, of all Americans, would be found in the Free-thought fold, since they have suffered more than any other class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-harrison/it-should-seem-that-negroes-of-all-americans-would-be-found-in-the/) Hubert Harrison > [What we really need the poet's and orator's I help to keep alive in us is not, then, the common and gregarious courage which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/what-we-really-need-the-poet-s-and-orator-s-i-help-to-keep-alive-in/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Faculty Psychology is getting to be respectable again after centuries of hanging around with phrenologists and other dubious types. By faculty psychology I mean,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-fodor/faculty-psychology-is-getting-to-be-respectable-again-after-centuries/) [Jerry Fodor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-fodor/) > [“It is of the dubious inevitable side of human nature—like gold teeth and tinned salmon and bastard lacy valentines”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/it-is-of-the-dubious-inevitable-side-of-human-nature-like-gold-teeth/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Wholeness is sort of a dubious concept. 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