--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Britain, which in the years immediately…" description: "\"Britain, which in the years immediately before this war was rapidly losing such democratic virtues as it possessed, is now being bombed and burned into..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/j-b-priestley-9291_bombed_britain-which-in-the-years-immediately-b_2763891.png" --- # Britain, which in the years immediately before this war… ![“Britain, which in the years immediately before this war was rapidly losing such democratic virtues as it possessed, is now being bombed and burned into democracy.” quote by J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/j-b-priestley-9291_bombed_britain-which-in-the-years-immediately-b_2763891.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/j-b-priestley-9291_bombed_britain-which-in-the-years-immediately-b_2763891.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/j-b-priestley-9291_bombed_britain-which-in-the-years-immediately-b_2763891.png) > “Britain, which in the years immediately before this war was rapidly losing such democratic virtues as it possessed, is now being bombed and burned into democracy.” [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. War devastation erodes democratic values, turning a nation into a battlefield of its own ideals. **In simple terms:** War strips democracy, leading to self‑destruction. Key Takeaway Defend democratic virtues during conflict. Themes war democracy politics morality destruction Mood urgent concerned Type political ethical When to use this quote - elections - civil liberties - media coverage - public debate Key Concepts Political theory ethics historical analysis Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards protect democracy in wartime? - How can citizens resist erosion of rights? A Different Perspective War can justify authoritarian measures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bombed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bombed/) [Bombed Burned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bombed-burned-3190298/) [Britain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/britain/) [Burned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burned/) [Burned Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burned-democracy-3190297/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Democratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democratic/) [Losing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/losing/) [Losing Democratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/losing-democratic-3190299/) [Possessed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possessed/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War Rapidly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-rapidly-3190300/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [Losing the PR battles, particularly about healthcare, translated into losing his Democratic majorities in Congress, beginning with a Republican landslide in the midterm election…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/losing-the-pr-battles-particularly-about-healthcare-translated-into/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [My theory is that Kurt had a lot of residual pain from his childhood. And when you pile that on top of his experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-shields/my-theory-is-that-kurt-had-a-lot-of-residual-pain-from-his-childhood/) [Charles J. Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-shields/) > [“In the summer of 1982, while Israeli armored tanks and gunships imposed a siege of another age on rampartless Beirut, cutting off the water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabih-alameddine/in-the-summer-of-1982-while-israeli-armored-tanks-and-gunships/) [Rabih Alameddine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabih-alameddine/) > [I bombed so much as a standup that messing up doesn't matter to me anymore. I kind of enjoy bombing sometimes - I try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-davidson/i-bombed-so-much-as-a-standup-that-messing-up-doesn-t-matter-to-me/) [Pete Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-davidson/) > [They bombed my granny's chippie, left it completely flat. I'll have her for that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-couch/they-bombed-my-granny-s-chippie-left-it-completely-flat-i-ll-have-her/) [Jane Couch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-couch/) > [How long will it take the citizens of the United States, one wonders, to recognize that the house their country bombed in Iraq is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/how-long-will-it-take-the-citizens-of-the-united-states-one-wonders/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Israel bombed the Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007. What the Syrians did in response, nothing. Israel has killed a number of terrorist leaders in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/israel-bombed-the-syrian-nuclear-reactor-in-2007-what-the-syrians-did/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) > [I bombed the LSAT and quickly discovered that law school wasn't for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-schnatter/i-bombed-the-lsat-and-quickly-discovered-that-law-school-wasn-t-for-me/) [John Schnatter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-schnatter/) > [“Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bluto-in-animal-house/was-it-over-when-the-germans-bombed-pearl-harbor/) [Bluto in Animal House](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bluto-in-animal-house/) > [“I'm going out for a bottle of champagne. We're going to get bombed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-m-going-out-for-a-bottle-of-champagne-we-re-going-to-get-bombed/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“There’s a guy walking around a war-torn country, and he comes across a girl who’s been killed by a bomb. The guy drops to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-anderson/there-s-a-guy-walking-around-a-war-torn-country-and-he-comes-across-a/) [Ole Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-anderson/) > [I wouldn't want to live in Berlin. It's bombed out and there's a lot of techno.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-crosley/i-wouldn-t-want-to-live-in-berlin-it-s-bombed-out-and-there-s-a-lot/) [Sloane Crosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-crosley/) > [After Hiroshima was bombed, I saw a photograph of the side of a house with the shadows of the people who had lived there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/after-hiroshima-was-bombed-i-saw-a-photograph-of-the-side-of-a-house/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Hiroshima does not look like a bombed city. It looks as if a monster steamroller had passed over it and squashed it out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/hiroshima-does-not-look-like-a-bombed-city-it-looks-as-if-a-monster/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [Hitler bombed London into submission but in fact it created a sense of national solidarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/hitler-bombed-london-into-submission-but-in-fact-it-created-a-sense/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) ## More by J. B. Priestley > [In a world shaped and colored more and more by politicians, the nations meet politically, and hardly any other way to settle their differences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/in-a-world-shaped-and-colored-more-and-more-by-politicians-the/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [Many a man is praised for his reserve and so-called shyness when he is simply too proud to risk making a fool of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/many-a-man-is-praised-for-his-reserve-and-so-called-shyness-when-he/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [To make the most of Christmas, focus on Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/to-make-the-most-of-christmas-focus-on-christ/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [A novelist who writes nothing for 10 years finds his reputation rising. Because I keep on producing books they say there must be something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/a-novelist-who-writes-nothing-for-10-years-finds-his-reputation/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [To show a child what once delighted you, to find the child's delight added to your own - this is happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/to-show-a-child-what-once-delighted-you-to-find-the-child-s-delight/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/the-first-fall-of-snow-is-not-only-an-event-it-is-a-magical-event-you/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [I fancy that the Hell of Too Many People would occupy a respectable place in the hierarchy of infernal regions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/i-fancy-that-the-hell-of-too-many-people-would-occupy-a-respectable/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [It is good fiction, so largely ignored now, that brings us so much closer to the real facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/it-is-good-fiction-so-largely-ignored-now-that-brings-us-so-much/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/i-have-always-been-delighted-at-the-prospect-of-a-new-day-a-fresh-try/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [Perhaps it would be better not to be a writer, but if you must, then write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/perhaps-it-would-be-better-not-to-be-a-writer-but-if-you-must-then/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [What a grand, higgledy-piggledy, sensible old place Norwich is!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/what-a-grand-higgledy-piggledy-sensible-old-place-norwich-is/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [Man, the creature who knows he must die, who has dreams larger than his destiny, who is forever working a confidence trick on himself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/man-the-creature-who-knows-he-must-die-who-has-dreams-larger-than-his/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [There are plenty of clever young writers. But there is too much genius, not enough talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/there-are-plenty-of-clever-young-writers-but-there-is-too-much-genius/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [If you are a genius, you'll make your own rules, but if not - and the odds are against it - go to your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/if-you-are-a-genius-you-ll-make-your-own-rules-but-if-not-and-the/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [But some of us are beginning to pull well away, in our irritation, from...the exquisite tasters, the vintage snobs, the three-star Michelin gourmets. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/but-some-of-us-are-beginning-to-pull-well-away-in-our-irritation-from/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) [Explore all 73 J. B. Priestley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) ## More Bombed quotes > [Hitler bombed London into submission but in fact it created a sense of national solidarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/hitler-bombed-london-into-submission-but-in-fact-it-created-a-sense/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [Hiroshima does not look like a bombed city. It looks as if a monster steamroller had passed over it and squashed it out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-burchett/hiroshima-does-not-look-like-a-bombed-city-it-looks-as-if-a-monster/) [Wilfred Burchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-burchett/) > [After Hiroshima was bombed, I saw a photograph of the side of a house with the shadows of the people who had lived there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/after-hiroshima-was-bombed-i-saw-a-photograph-of-the-side-of-a-house/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I wouldn't want to live in Berlin. It's bombed out and there's a lot of techno.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-crosley/i-wouldn-t-want-to-live-in-berlin-it-s-bombed-out-and-there-s-a-lot/) [Sloane Crosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-crosley/) > [“There’s a guy walking around a war-torn country, and he comes across a girl who’s been killed by a bomb. The guy drops to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-anderson/there-s-a-guy-walking-around-a-war-torn-country-and-he-comes-across-a/) [Ole Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-anderson/) > [“I'm going out for a bottle of champagne. We're going to get bombed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-m-going-out-for-a-bottle-of-champagne-we-re-going-to-get-bombed/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bluto-in-animal-house/was-it-over-when-the-germans-bombed-pearl-harbor/) [Bluto in Animal House](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bluto-in-animal-house/) > [I bombed the LSAT and quickly discovered that law school wasn't for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-schnatter/i-bombed-the-lsat-and-quickly-discovered-that-law-school-wasn-t-for-me/) [John Schnatter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-schnatter/) > [Israel bombed the Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007. What the Syrians did in response, nothing. Israel has killed a number of terrorist leaders in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/israel-bombed-the-syrian-nuclear-reactor-in-2007-what-the-syrians-did/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) > [How long will it take the citizens of the United States, one wonders, to recognize that the house their country bombed in Iraq is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/how-long-will-it-take-the-citizens-of-the-united-states-one-wonders/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [They bombed my granny's chippie, left it completely flat. I'll have her for that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-couch/they-bombed-my-granny-s-chippie-left-it-completely-flat-i-ll-have-her/) [Jane Couch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-couch/) > [I bombed so much as a standup that messing up doesn't matter to me anymore. I kind of enjoy bombing sometimes - I try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-davidson/i-bombed-so-much-as-a-standup-that-messing-up-doesn-t-matter-to-me/) [Pete Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-davidson/) > [“In the summer of 1982, while Israeli armored tanks and gunships imposed a siege of another age on rampartless Beirut, cutting off the water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabih-alameddine/in-the-summer-of-1982-while-israeli-armored-tanks-and-gunships/) [Rabih Alameddine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabih-alameddine/) > [My theory is that Kurt had a lot of residual pain from his childhood. And when you pile that on top of his experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-shields/my-theory-is-that-kurt-had-a-lot-of-residual-pain-from-his-childhood/) [Charles J. Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-shields/) > [“I am glad we’ve been bombed,’ said the Queen famously. ‘It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-williams/i-am-glad-we-ve-been-bombed-said-the-queen-famously-it-makes-me-feel/) [Kate Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-williams/) [Browse all 55 Bombed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bombed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Britain, which in the years immediately before this war was rapidly losing such democratic virtues as it possessed, is now being bombed and burned into democracy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J. B. 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