--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The bad thing of war is, that it makes…" description: "\"The bad thing of war is, that it makes more evil people than it can take away.\" — Immanuel Kant" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/immanuel-kant-532_antiwar_the-bad-thing-of-war-is-that-it-makes-mo_1220961.jpg" --- # The bad thing of war is, that it makes more evil people… ![“The bad thing of war is, that it makes more evil people than it can take away.” quote by Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/immanuel-kant-532_antiwar_the-bad-thing-of-war-is-that-it-makes-mo_1220961.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/immanuel-kant-532_antiwar_the-bad-thing-of-war-is-that-it-makes-mo_1220961.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/immanuel-kant-532_antiwar_the-bad-thing-of-war-is-that-it-makes-mo_1220961.jpg) > “The bad thing of war is, that it makes more evil people than it can take away.” [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. War multiplies evil beyond what it can eradicate, creating more harm than good. **In simple terms:** War creates more evil than it removes. Key Takeaway Seek peaceful solutions over conflict. Themes war evil ethics philosophy Mood somber thoughtful Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - international relations - military strategy - conflict resolution - human rights activism Key Concepts consequentialism human nature morality Questions to Reflect On - Is war ever justified to prevent greater evil? - How can societies prevent war's spread? A Different Perspective War sometimes claims to be necessary for justice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Antiwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antiwar/) [Bad thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-thing/) [Bad things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-things/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Evil people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-people/) [Makes Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/makes-evil-656669/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Thing War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-war-272637/) [Tyranny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tyranny/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War Makes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-makes-760064/) ## Related quotes > [There is hardly such a thing as a war in which it makes no difference who wins. Nearly always one side stands more or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/there-is-hardly-such-a-thing-as-a-war-in-which-it-makes-no-difference/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [In the struggle of good against evil, it's always the people who get killed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/in-the-struggle-of-good-against-evil-it-s-always-the-people-who-get/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [“Magic doesn't make a man evil,' he said. 'It's just a skill. It isn't inherently good or bad. It's what's in his heart that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-tolcser/magic-doesn-t-make-a-man-evil-he-said-it-s-just-a-skill-it-isn-t/) [Sarah Tolcser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-tolcser/) > [The terrible thing is that we love our sins. We love the thing that makes us evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-terrible-thing-is-that-we-love-our-sins-we-love-the-thing-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Your enemy is not the one who harms you, but the one who makes you evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/your-enemy-is-not-the-one-who-harms-you-but-the-one-who-makes-you-evil/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [“Because you like to hurt people. And you think you're special, you think everyone around you is a bunch of sissies who can't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/because-you-like-to-hurt-people-and-you-think-you-re-special-you/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [All the things of the wild have their proper uses. Only misuse makes them evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellis-peters/all-the-things-of-the-wild-have-their-proper-uses-only-misuse-makes/) [Ellis Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellis-peters/) > [“Wait, Richard Cheney, as in Dick Cheney? You're a vampire named Dick Cheney? Somehow, that makes you seem more evil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-harper/wait-richard-cheney-as-in-dick-cheney-you-re-a-vampire-named-dick/) [Molly Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-harper/) > [“Just as the Spirit always makes one out of two, so the evil one invariably makes two out of one!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/just-as-the-spirit-always-makes-one-out-of-two-so-the-evil-one/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [“Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/why-then-did-god-give-them-free-will-because-free-will-though-it/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“I like to hurt people too. I can make the cruelest choice. The difference is, sometimes I don't, and you always do, and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-like-to-hurt-people-too-i-can-make-the-cruelest-choice-the/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [“Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/because-free-will-though-it-makes-evil-possible-is-also-the-only/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [And the next thing is that every war is going to astonish you in the way it occurred, and in the way it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/and-the-next-thing-is-that-every-war-is-going-to-astonish-you-in-the/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [It's a good thing war is so terrible or else we'd get to liking it too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-frazier/it-s-a-good-thing-war-is-so-terrible-or-else-we-d-get-to-liking-it/) [Charles Frazier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-frazier/) > [All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-efforts-to-render-politics-aesthetic-culminate-in-one-thing-war/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) ## More by Immanuel Kant > [Even if a civil society were to be dissolved by the consent of all its members (e.g., if a people inhabiting an island decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/even-if-a-civil-society-were-to-be-dissolved-by-the-consent-of-all/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [How then is perfection to be sought? Wherein lies our hope? In education, and in nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/how-then-is-perfection-to-be-sought-wherein-lies-our-hope-in/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Heaven has given human beings three things to balance the odds of life: hope, sleep, and laughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/heaven-has-given-human-beings-three-things-to-balance-the-odds-of/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Beauty presents an indeterminate concept of Understanding, the sublime an indeterminate concept of Reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/beauty-presents-an-indeterminate-concept-of-understanding-the-sublime/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Freedom is that faculty that enlarges the usefulness of all other faculties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/freedom-is-that-faculty-that-enlarges-the-usefulness-of-all-other/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Philosophical knowledge is the knowledge gained by reason from concepts ; mathematical knowledge is the knowledge gained by reason from the construction of concepts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/philosophical-knowledge-is-the-knowledge-gained-by-reason-from/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [A categorical imperative would be one which represented an action as objectively necessary in itself, without reference to any other purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/a-categorical-imperative-would-be-one-which-represented-an-action-as/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [When I could have used a wife, I could not support one; and when I could support one, I no longer needed any](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/when-i-could-have-used-a-wife-i-could-not-support-one-and-when-i/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Enlightenment is the liberation of man from his self-caused state of minority... Supere aude! Dare to use your own understanding!is thus the motto of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/enlightenment-is-the-liberation-of-man-from-his-self-caused-state-of/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [The ideal of the supreme being is nothing but a regulative principle of reason which directs us to look upon all connection in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/the-ideal-of-the-supreme-being-is-nothing-but-a-regulative-principle/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [“Jeg skal alltid handle slik at den regelen jeg handler etter kunne gjelde som allmenn lov.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/jeg-skal-alltid-handle-slik-at-den-regelen-jeg-handler-etter-kunne/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Deaths, births, and marriages, considering how much they are separately dependent on the freedom of the human will, should seem to be subject to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/deaths-births-and-marriages-considering-how-much-they-are-separately/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [It is precisely in knowing its limits that philosophy consists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/it-is-precisely-in-knowing-its-limits-that-philosophy-consists/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [A society that is not willing to demand a life of somebody who has taken somebody else’s life is simply immoral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/a-society-that-is-not-willing-to-demand-a-life-of-somebody-who-has/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [. . . as to moral feeling, this supposed special sense, the appeal to it is indeed superficial when those who cannot think believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/as-to-moral-feeling-this-supposed-special-sense-the-appeal-to-it-is/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) [Explore all 476 Immanuel Kant quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) ## More Antiwar quotes > [In the struggle of good against evil, it's always the people who get killed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/in-the-struggle-of-good-against-evil-it-s-always-the-people-who-get/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [“... it would be better for our country and the world in general, if at least the few people who were capable of thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/it-would-be-better-for-our-country-and-the-world-in-general-if-at/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [In the eyes of empire builders men are not men but instruments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/in-the-eyes-of-empire-builders-men-are-not-men-but-instruments/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [The statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-statesmen-will-invent-cheap-lies-putting-the-blame-upon-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [My first wish is to see this plague of mankind banished from the earth, and the sons and daughters of this world employed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/my-first-wish-is-to-see-this-plague-of-mankind-banished-from-the/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [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/) > [One reason the United States finds itself at the edge of a foreign policy disaster is its underinformed citizenry, a key weakness in democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-halper/one-reason-the-united-states-finds-itself-at-the-edge-of-a-foreign/) [Stefan Halper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-halper/) > [The worst evils which mankind has ever had to endure were inflicted by bad governments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/the-worst-evils-which-mankind-has-ever-had-to-endure-were-inflicted/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [You cannot be on one hand dedicated to peace and on the other dedicated to violence. Those two things are irreconcilable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/condoleezza-rice/you-cannot-be-on-one-hand-dedicated-to-peace-and-on-the-other/) [Condoleezza Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/condoleezza-rice/) > [Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/free-nations-don-t-develop-weapons-of-mass-destruction/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [...Uncalled-for aggression arouses the hatred of the civilian population...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/uncalled-for-aggression-arouses-the-hatred-of-the-civilian-population/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Studies by Medical Corps psychiatrists of combat fatigue cases... found that fear of killing, rather than fear of being killed, was the most common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-lyman-atwood-marshall/studies-by-medical-corps-psychiatrists-of-combat-fatigue-cases-found/) [Samuel Lyman Atwood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-lyman-atwood-marshall/) > [I believe that the entire effort of modern society should be concentrated on the endeavor to outlaw war as a method of the solution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-macarthur/i-believe-that-the-entire-effort-of-modern-society-should-be/) [Douglas MacArthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-macarthur/) > [In war, as it is waged now, with the enormous losses on both sides, both sides will lose. It is a form of mutual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-macarthur/in-war-as-it-is-waged-now-with-the-enormous-losses-on-both-sides-both/) [Douglas MacArthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-macarthur/) > [Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/our-reluctance-for-conflict-should-not-be-misjudged-as-a-failure-of/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) [Browse all 409 Antiwar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antiwar/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The bad thing of war is, that it makes more evil people than it can take away.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Immanuel Kant" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/the-bad-thing-of-war-is-that-it-makes-more-evil-people-than-it-can/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Antiwar" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/the-bad-thing-of-war-is-that-it-makes-more-evil-people-than-it-can/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/immanuel-kant-532_antiwar_the-bad-thing-of-war-is-that-it-makes-mo_1220961.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/immanuel-kant-532_antiwar_the-bad-thing-of-war-is-that-it-makes-mo_1220961.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/immanuel-kant-532_antiwar_the-bad-thing-of-war-is-that-it-makes-mo_1220961.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The bad thing of war is, that it makes more evil people than it can take away.” — Immanuel Kant", "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": "Immanuel Kant", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The bad thing of war is,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/the-bad-thing-of-war-is-that-it-makes-more-evil-people-than-it-can/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/the-bad-thing-of-war-is-that-it-makes-more-evil-people-than-it-can/#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 } } ] } ```