---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: History has shown that at least one-half…"
description: "\"History has shown that at least one-half of every century is consumed in war.\" — James Monroe"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/james-monroe-11373_century_history-has-shown-that-at-least-one-half_1342866.jpg"
---

#  History has shown that at least one-half of every century…

![“History has shown that at least one-half of every century is consumed in war.” quote by James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/james-monroe-11373_century_history-has-shown-that-at-least-one-half_1342866.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/james-monroe-11373_century_history-has-shown-that-at-least-one-half_1342866.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/james-monroe-11373_century_history-has-shown-that-at-least-one-half_1342866.jpg)

> “History has shown that at least one-half of every century is consumed in war.”

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

War consumes a large portion of each century, shaping societies.

**In simple terms:** War dominates half of each century.

Key Takeaway

Seek peace to reduce conflict.

Themes

war history society

Mood

concerned serious

Type

political philosophical

When to use this quote

- policy making
- education
- public discourse

Key Concepts

Conflict temporal patterns human cost

Questions to Reflect On

- How can societies limit war?
- What drives recurring conflicts?

A Different Perspective

Peace efforts often face political resistance.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Century Consumed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century-consumed-4542019/) [Consumed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumed/) [Consumed War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumed-war-4542018/) [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [Half Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half-century/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Shown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-shown-1077664/) [One half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-half/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/)

## Related quotes

> [“History has shown us time and time again that you don't have to know someone to love them with all your heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/history-has-shown-us-time-and-time-again-that-you-don-t-have-to-know/)

[Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/)

> [History has shown that the less people read, the more books they buy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/history-has-shown-that-the-less-people-read-the-more-books-they-buy/)

[Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/)

> [As history has shown, pure science research ultimately ends up applying to something. We just don't know it at the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/as-history-has-shown-pure-science-research-ultimately-ends-up/)

[Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/)

> [History has shown us time and again that what is right is not what is popular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-netanyahu/history-has-shown-us-time-and-again-that-what-is-right-is-not-what-is/)

[Benjamin Netanyahu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-netanyahu/)

> [History has shown us that all the great advances have taken place in Spain when we have evolved and adapted to the reality of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/king-felipe-vi/history-has-shown-us-that-all-the-great-advances-have-taken-place-in/)

[King Felipe VI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/king-felipe-vi/)

> [History has shown that in every age and in every field of human knowledge, many of the views which almost everyone accepted as true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-arthur-fisher/history-has-shown-that-in-every-age-and-in-every-field-of-human/)

[Philip Arthur Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-arthur-fisher/)

> [“History has shown there are no invincible armies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/history-has-shown-there-are-no-invincible-armies/)

[Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/)

> [After a half-century of hard work and reflection the wall is still there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/after-a-half-century-of-hard-work-and-reflection-the-wall-is-still/)

[Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/)

> [There is some evidence that average wave heights are slowly rising, and that freak waves of eighty or ninety feet are becoming more common.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/there-is-some-evidence-that-average-wave-heights-are-slowly-rising/)

[Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/)

> [Me stash box never empty. The fifty dollar bag we call that half century. Me start me own herb documentary. Bermy man a call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/collie-buddz/me-stash-box-never-empty-the-fifty-dollar-bag-we-call-that-half/)

[Collie Buddz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/collie-buddz/)

> [Every advance in this half-century-Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another-came with the support and leadership of American Labor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/every-advance-in-this-half-century-social-security-civil-rights/)

[Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/)

> [Over the last half century the television interview has given us some of TV's most heart-stopping and memorable moments. On the surface it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-frost/over-the-last-half-century-the-television-interview-has-given-us-some/)

[David Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-frost/)

> [“Dr. Urbino caught the parrot around the neck with a triumphant sigh: ça y est. But he released him immediately because the ladder slipped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/dr-urbino-caught-the-parrot-around-the-neck-with-a-triumphant-sigh-a/)

[Gabriel García Márquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/)

> [When Estonia reestablished its sovereignty after a half century of successive thuggish, totalitarian, foreign occupations by the Soviets, the Nazis, and then again the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toomas-hendrik-ilves/when-estonia-reestablished-its-sovereignty-after-a-half-century-of/)

[Toomas Hendrik Ilves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toomas-hendrik-ilves/)

> [The wisdom of our actions in the first three years of peace will determine the course of world history for half a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-wisdom-of-our-actions-in-the-first-three-years-of-peace-will/)

[Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/)

## More by James Monroe

> [The principles and passions of men are always the same and lead to the same result, varying only according to the circumstances in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/the-principles-and-passions-of-men-are-always-the-same-and-lead-to/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

> [The crime of ingratitude has not yet stained, and I trust never will stain, our national character. You are considered by them as not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/the-crime-of-ingratitude-has-not-yet-stained-and-i-trust-never-will/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

> [If we look to the history of other nations, ancient or modern, we find no example of a growth so rapid, so gigantic, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/if-we-look-to-the-history-of-other-nations-ancient-or-modern-we-find/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

> [In the wars of the European powers in matters relating to themselves we have never taken any part, not does it comport with our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/in-the-wars-of-the-european-powers-in-matters-relating-to-themselves/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

> [The best form of government is that which is most likely to prevent the greatest sum of evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/the-best-form-of-government-is-that-which-is-most-likely-to-prevent/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

> [Before any man can be considered as a member of civil society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/before-any-man-can-be-considered-as-a-member-of-civil-society-he-must/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

> [By the last returns to the Department of War the militia force of the several States may be estimated at 800,000 men - infantry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/by-the-last-returns-to-the-department-of-war-the-militia-force-of-the/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

> [In wars of the European powers in matters relating to themselves we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/in-wars-of-the-european-powers-in-matters-relating-to-themselves-we/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

> [Our relations with the other powers of Europe have experienced no essential change since the last session.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/our-relations-with-the-other-powers-of-europe-have-experienced-no/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

> [A free, virtuous, and enlightened people must know full well the great principles and causes upon which their happiness depends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/a-free-virtuous-and-enlightened-people-must-know-full-well-the-great/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

> [There is a price tag on human liberty. That price is the willingness to assume the responsibilities of being free men. Payment of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/there-is-a-price-tag-on-human-liberty-that-price-is-the-willingness/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

> [By these purchases the Indian title, with moderate reservations, has been extinguished to the whole of the land within the limits of the State…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/by-these-purchases-the-indian-title-with-moderate-reservations-has/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

> [I enter on the trust to which I have been called by the suffrages of my fellow-citizens with my fervent prayers to the Almighty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/i-enter-on-the-trust-to-which-i-have-been-called-by-the-suffrages-of/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

> [The mention of Greece fills the mind with the most exalted sentiments and arouses in our bosoms the best feelings of which our nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/the-mention-of-greece-fills-the-mind-with-the-most-exalted-sentiments/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

> [How prone all human institutions have been to decay; how subject the best-formed and most wisely organized governments have been to lose their check…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/how-prone-all-human-institutions-have-been-to-decay-how-subject-the/)

[James Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

[Explore all 60 James Monroe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/)

## More Century quotes

> [I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-always-that-i-am-an-outsider-a-stranger-in-this-century-and/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/)

[Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/)

> [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/)

[David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/)

> [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [Talented people can predict with great accuracy what's about to happen just a tiny bit ahead of their competitors. It might be two seconds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/talented-people-can-predict-with-great-accuracy-what-s-about-to/)

[Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/)

> [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/)

[James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/)

> [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/)

[Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/)

> [At no time in the past century has public distrust of the government been so broadly distributed across the political spectrum, as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-zimmermann/at-no-time-in-the-past-century-has-public-distrust-of-the-government/)

[Phil Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-zimmermann/)

> [While husbands and lovers in the stories are of all kinds, ranging from sympathetic to disgusting, women are invariably deceivers: inconstant, unscrupulous, quarrelsome, querulous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/while-husbands-and-lovers-in-the-stories-are-of-all-kinds-ranging/)

[Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/)

> [The young people today are the 21st century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/the-young-people-today-are-the-21st-century/)

[Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/)

> [The wisdom of our actions in the first three years of peace will determine the course of world history for half a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-wisdom-of-our-actions-in-the-first-three-years-of-peace-will/)

[Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/)

> [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/)

[William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/)

> [In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-a-general-way-the-literature-of-the-twentieth-century-is/)

[Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/)

> [Consequently, citizen legislators, rotating back to their communities after a short period of public service—considered an indispensable and routine characteristic and design of representative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/consequently-citizen-legislators-rotating-back-to-their-communities/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

[Browse all 5,406 Century quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "History has shown that at least one-half of every century is consumed in war.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "James Monroe"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/history-has-shown-that-at-least-one-half-of-every-century-is-consumed/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Century"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/history-has-shown-that-at-least-one-half-of-every-century-is-consumed/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/james-monroe-11373_century_history-has-shown-that-at-least-one-half_1342866.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/james-monroe-11373_century_history-has-shown-that-at-least-one-half_1342866.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/james-monroe-11373_century_history-has-shown-that-at-least-one-half_1342866.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“History has shown that at least one-half of every century is consumed in war.” — James Monroe",
                "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": "James Monroe",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-monroe/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "History has shown that at least...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/history-has-shown-that-at-least-one-half-of-every-century-is-consumed/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-monroe/history-has-shown-that-at-least-one-half-of-every-century-is-consumed/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
