--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What the country needs is the…" description: "\"What the country needs is the annihilation of the enemy.\" — Horatio Nelson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61b/horatio-nelson-11575_annihilation_what-the-country-needs-is-the-annihilati_2134651.png" --- # What the country needs is the annihilation of the enemy. ![“What the country needs is the annihilation of the enemy.” quote by Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61b/horatio-nelson-11575_annihilation_what-the-country-needs-is-the-annihilati_2134651.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61b/horatio-nelson-11575_annihilation_what-the-country-needs-is-the-annihilati_2134651.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61b/horatio-nelson-11575_annihilation_what-the-country-needs-is-the-annihilati_2134651.png) > “What the country needs is the annihilation of the enemy.” [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocates total defeat of the opponent as essential for national security **In simple terms:** Destroy the enemy completely to protect the nation Key Takeaway Eliminate threats decisively Themes war national security strategy Mood stern urgent Type political military When to use this quote - military planning - political rhetoric - defense policy Key Concepts realpolitik total war deterrence Questions to Reflect On - What alternatives to annihilation exist? - How does this stance affect future peace? A Different Perspective May ignore diplomatic solutions and cause escalation ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Annihilation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/annihilation/) [Annihilation Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/annihilation-enemy-4415341/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Country Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country-needs/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Needs Annihilation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs-annihilation-4415340/) [Patriotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/all-great-leaders-since-moses-have-known-that-a-feared-enemy-must-be/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [That's what this country needs -- more books!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/that-s-what-this-country-needs-more-books/) [Christopher Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-morley/) > [I have a strong temperament, but our country needs a strong temperament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-have-a-strong-temperament-but-our-country-needs-a-strong-temperament/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [That's the kind of thinking that our country needs. When we have a country that's doing so badly, that's being ripped off by every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/that-s-the-kind-of-thinking-that-our-country-needs-when-we-have-a/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [I think the country's in trouble. And I think I have a pretty clear sense of the values and principles that have made this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-pawlenty/i-think-the-country-s-in-trouble-and-i-think-i-have-a-pretty-clear/) [Tim Pawlenty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-pawlenty/) > [What this country needs is more unemployed politicians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-davis/what-this-country-needs-is-more-unemployed-politicians/) [Angela Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-davis/) > [Don't give up - our country needs you now more than ever. This is a pivotal moment in the history of our country: Our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamala-harris/don-t-give-up-our-country-needs-you-now-more-than-ever-this-is-a/) [Kamala Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamala-harris/) > [What this country needs is more free speech worth listening to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hansell-b-duckett/what-this-country-needs-is-more-free-speech-worth-listening-to/) [Hansell B Duckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hansell-b-duckett/) > [Our country needs help, and I think the best way to help the country is to bring new energy, new ideas, and new leaders…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-swalwell/our-country-needs-help-and-i-think-the-best-way-to-help-the-country/) [Eric Swalwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-swalwell/) > [This country needs nothing less than wholesale federalisation. The reasons are threefold: economic, democratic and cultural.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuka-umunna/this-country-needs-nothing-less-than-wholesale-federalisation-the/) [Chuka Umunna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuka-umunna/) > [The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/the-country-needs-and-unless-i-mistake-its-temper-the-country-demands/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [There is a lot of talent in our country that needs to be exploited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeetendra/there-is-a-lot-of-talent-in-our-country-that-needs-to-be-exploited/) [Jeetendra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeetendra/) > [This country needs room to grow and expand. In all my own newspapers I read frightful tales of the shameful atrocities being perpetrated on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gracie-allen/this-country-needs-room-to-grow-and-expand-in-all-my-own-newspapers-i/) [Gracie Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gracie-allen/) > [If we have a foreign country, which it appears that we do, interfering in an election in any way, we need to know that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patty-murray/if-we-have-a-foreign-country-which-it-appears-that-we-do-interfering/) [Patty Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patty-murray/) > [The President should be focused on making the lives of Americans better. It's what he promised. It's what the country needs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-scaramucci/the-president-should-be-focused-on-making-the-lives-of-americans/) [Anthony Scaramucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-scaramucci/) ## More by Horatio Nelson > [England expects every man to do his duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/england-expects-every-man-to-do-his-duty/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [Duty is the great business of a sea officer; all private considerations must give way to it, however painful it may be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/duty-is-the-great-business-of-a-sea-officer-all-private/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [When I came to explain to them the 'Nelson Touch', it was like an electric shock. Some shed tears, all approved - 'It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/when-i-came-to-explain-to-them-the-nelson-touch-it-was-like-an/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [Buonaparte has often made his boast that our fleet would be worn out by keeping the sea and that his was kept in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/buonaparte-has-often-made-his-boast-that-our-fleet-would-be-worn-out/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [Had we taken ten sails, and let the eleventh to escape, being able to get at her, I could never have called it well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/had-we-taken-ten-sails-and-let-the-eleventh-to-escape-being-able-to/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [Something must be left to chance; nothing is certain in a sea fight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/something-must-be-left-to-chance-nothing-is-certain-in-a-sea-fight/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [The politics of courts are so mean that private people would be ashamed to act in the same way; all is trick and finesse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/the-politics-of-courts-are-so-mean-that-private-people-would-be/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [Frigates are the eyes of a fleet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/frigates-are-the-eyes-of-a-fleet/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [I am ill every time it blows hard, and nothing but my enthusiastic love for the profession keeps me one hour at sea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/i-am-ill-every-time-it-blows-hard-and-nothing-but-my-enthusiastic/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [If a man consults whether he is to fight, when he has the power in his own hands, it is certain that his opinion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/if-a-man-consults-whether-he-is-to-fight-when-he-has-the-power-in-his/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [Laurels grow in the Bay of Biscay, I hope a bed of them may be found in the Mediterranean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/laurels-grow-in-the-bay-of-biscay-i-hope-a-bed-of-them-may-be-found/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [When I follow my own head, I am, in general, much more correct in my judgment than following the opinion of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/when-i-follow-my-own-head-i-am-in-general-much-more-correct-in-my/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [A ship's a fool to fight a fort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/a-ship-s-a-fool-to-fight-a-fort/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [Whoever gains the palm by merit, let him hold it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/whoever-gains-the-palm-by-merit-let-him-hold-it/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [The bravest man feels an anxiety 'circa praecordia' as he enters the battle; but he dreads disgrace yet more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/the-bravest-man-feels-an-anxiety-circa-praecordia-as-he-enters-the/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) [Explore all 59 Horatio Nelson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) ## More Annihilation quotes > [The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe... All is registered in the 'boundless heart' of the bodhisattva. Through our deepest and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-macy/the-heart-that-breaks-open-can-contain-the-whole-universe-all-is/) [Joanna Macy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-macy/) > [The highest ideal of cure is the rapid, gentle and permanent restoration of health; that is, the lifting and annihilation of the disease in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hahnemann/the-highest-ideal-of-cure-is-the-rapid-gentle-and-permanent/) [Samuel Hahnemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hahnemann/) > [To fight is to face death once more, perhaps the total annihilation of their kind. But to run... is that not also a kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/to-fight-is-to-face-death-once-more-perhaps-the-total-annihilation-of/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [I'm not afraid of anything other than spiritual annihilation. Where your soul is sucked into the void.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crispian-mills/i-m-not-afraid-of-anything-other-than-spiritual-annihilation-where/) [Crispian Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crispian-mills/) > [“The breath had become as much a trick as breathing. Things were not dual merely, but multiple. I had become a cage of mirrors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/the-breath-had-become-as-much-a-trick-as-breathing-things-were-not/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [There were days when she was unhappy, she did not know why,--when it did not seem worthwhile to be glad or sorry, to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/there-were-days-when-she-was-unhappy-she-did-not-know-why-when-it-did/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [I've crossed some kind of invisible line. I feel as if I've come to a place I never thought I'd have to come to.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-carver/i-ve-crossed-some-kind-of-invisible-line-i-feel-as-if-i-ve-come-to-a/) [Raymond Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-carver/) > [We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship, dependent on it's vulnerable reserves of air and soil, all committed, for our safety, to it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/we-travel-together-passengers-on-a-little-spaceship-dependent-on-it-s/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [Liberty is to faction, what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be a less folly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/liberty-is-to-faction-what-air-is-to-fire-an-aliment-without-which-it/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [Today I will once more be a prophet. If the international Jewish financiers, inside and outside Europe, succeed in plunging the nations once more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/today-i-will-once-more-be-a-prophet-if-the-international-jewish/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [“The edge of total annihilation wasn't the worst place to hide.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kit-rocha/the-edge-of-total-annihilation-wasn-t-the-worst-place-to-hide/) [Kit Rocha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kit-rocha/) > [To hope is to give yourself to the future - and that commitment to the future is what makes the present inhabitable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/to-hope-is-to-give-yourself-to-the-future-and-that-commitment-to-the/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [Annihilation is an absurdity in terms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-palissy/annihilation-is-an-absurdity-in-terms/) [Bernard Palissy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-palissy/) > [Love is scary because it pulls you in with an intense force, a supermassive black hole which looks like nothing from the outside but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/love-is-scary-because-it-pulls-you-in-with-an-intense-force-a/) [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) > [I have issued the command, and I'll have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing squad, that our war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/i-have-issued-the-command-and-i-ll-have-anybody-who-utters-but-one/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) [Browse all 244 Annihilation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/annihilation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What the country needs is the annihilation of the enemy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Horatio Nelson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/what-the-country-needs-is-the-annihilation-of-the-enemy/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Annihilation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/what-the-country-needs-is-the-annihilation-of-the-enemy/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61b/horatio-nelson-11575_annihilation_what-the-country-needs-is-the-annihilati_2134651.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61b/horatio-nelson-11575_annihilation_what-the-country-needs-is-the-annihilati_2134651.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61b/horatio-nelson-11575_annihilation_what-the-country-needs-is-the-annihilati_2134651.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What the country needs is the annihilation of the enemy.” — Horatio Nelson", "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": "Horatio Nelson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What the country needs is the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/what-the-country-needs-is-the-annihilation-of-the-enemy/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/what-the-country-needs-is-the-annihilation-of-the-enemy/#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 } } ] } ```