--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Unfortunately, nuclear weapons have…" description: "\"Unfortunately, nuclear weapons have become identified with state power.\" — John Burroughs" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/john-burroughs-1157_nuclear_unfortunately-nuclear-weapons-have-becom_2855080.png" --- # Unfortunately, nuclear weapons have become identified with… ![“Unfortunately, nuclear weapons have become identified with state power.” quote by John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/john-burroughs-1157_nuclear_unfortunately-nuclear-weapons-have-becom_2855080.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/john-burroughs-1157_nuclear_unfortunately-nuclear-weapons-have-becom_2855080.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/john-burroughs-1157_nuclear_unfortunately-nuclear-weapons-have-becom_2855080.png) > “Unfortunately, nuclear weapons have become identified with state power.” [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Nuclear weapons symbolize state authority, linking destructive power with political dominance. **In simple terms:** Nuclear arms show state power. Key Takeaway Promote disarmament and diplomatic solutions. Themes power technology politics danger global security Mood concerned serious urgent Type political analytical When to use this quote - policy debates - peace activism - military strategy - educational curricula Key Concepts international relations ethics of warfare political theory Questions to Reflect On - What alternatives exist to ensure security? - How does public perception affect policy? A Different Perspective Deterrence arguments claim they prevent war. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Nuclear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear/) [Nuclear weapons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear-weapons/) [Weapons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weapons/) ## Related quotes > [There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. As this operation continues, those weapons will be identified,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-franks/there-is-no-doubt-that-the-regime-of-saddam-hussein-possesses-weapons/) [Tommy Franks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-franks/) > [ \[Nuclear weapons\] now I think I mentioned around 27,000 and during the Cold War the total global arsenal was on the order of 70,000. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/nuclear-weapons-now-i-think-i-mentioned-around-27-000-and-during-the/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Almost all of the governments have agreed that they will not acquire nuclear weapons and that they will allow the International Atomic Energy Agency…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/almost-all-of-the-governments-have-agreed-that-they-will-not-acquire/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [ Basically \[United States and France\] said "We will use nuclear weapons whenever it suits our purposes to do so." So this expansion of doctrines… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/basically-united-states-and-france-said-we-will-use-nuclear-weapons/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Maybe that will happen with other countries as well. And so, that's why one of the things that groups like mine that work for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/maybe-that-will-happen-with-other-countries-as-well-and-so-that-s-why/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Certainly in the United States, you have a constituency in the form of the weapons laboratories, and you also have the branches of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/certainly-in-the-united-states-you-have-a-constituency-in-the-form-of/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Anarchism is surprisingly effective in solving actual problems largely because anarchists have thought a lot about solving actual problems on a micro level in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/anarchism-is-surprisingly-effective-in-solving-actual-problems/) [David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) > [The seventeenth century is everywhere a time in which the state's power over everything individual increases, whether that power be in absolutist hands or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/the-seventeenth-century-is-everywhere-a-time-in-which-the-state-s/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [I feel that if people investigate the emergence of government, of State power - if they examine the logic of State power historically, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/i-feel-that-if-people-investigate-the-emergence-of-government-of/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [I think our concept of revolution, in terms of getting the power to do things, is too focused on the state. We have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/i-think-our-concept-of-revolution-in-terms-of-getting-the-power-to-do/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [The sovereignty of the state as the power that protects the individual and that defines the mutual relationships among the visible spheres, rises high…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/the-sovereignty-of-the-state-as-the-power-that-protects-the/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) > ["Don't you want to abolish state power?" Yes, we do, but not right now. We cannot do it yet. Why? Because imperialism still exists,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/don-t-you-want-to-abolish-state-power-yes-we-do-but-not-right-now-we/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [Russia needs a strong state power and must have it. But I am not calling for totalitarianism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/russia-needs-a-strong-state-power-and-must-have-it-but-i-am-not/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [Those who have the command of the arms in a country are masters of the state, and have it in their power to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/those-who-have-the-command-of-the-arms-in-a-country-are-masters-of/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Politics is about power. It is about the power of the state. It is about the power of the state as applied to individuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-rudd/politics-is-about-power-it-is-about-the-power-of-the-state-it-is/) [Kevin Rudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-rudd/) ## More by John Burroughs > [As life nears its end with me, I find myself meditating more and more upon the mystery of its nature and origin, yet without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/as-life-nears-its-end-with-me-i-find-myself-meditating-more-and-more/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Certainly in the United States, you have a constituency in the form of the weapons laboratories, and you also have the branches of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/certainly-in-the-united-states-you-have-a-constituency-in-the-form-of/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [When Darwin published his conclusion that man was descended from an apelike ancestor who was again descended from a still lower type, most people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/when-darwin-published-his-conclusion-that-man-was-descended-from-an/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Science sees the process of evolution from the outside, as one might a train of cars going by, and resolves it into the physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/science-sees-the-process-of-evolution-from-the-outside-as-one-might-a/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Maybe that will happen with other countries as well. And so, that's why one of the things that groups like mine that work for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/maybe-that-will-happen-with-other-countries-as-well-and-so-that-s-why/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [One can only learn his powers of action by action, and his powers of thought by thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/one-can-only-learn-his-powers-of-action-by-action-and-his-powers-of/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [I was born with a chronic anxiety about the weather.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/i-was-born-with-a-chronic-anxiety-about-the-weather/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [When the woodpecker is searching for food, or laying siege to some hidden grub, the sound of his hammer is dead or muffled and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/when-the-woodpecker-is-searching-for-food-or-laying-siege-to-some/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [In what bold relief stand out the lives of all walkers of the snow! The snow is a great tell-tale, and blabs as effectually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/in-what-bold-relief-stand-out-the-lives-of-all-walkers-of-the-snow/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [In October, a maple tree before your window lights up your room like a great lamp. Even on cloudy days, its presence helps to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/in-october-a-maple-tree-before-your-window-lights-up-your-room-like-a/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [One can return to their place of birth, but one cannot go back to your youth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/one-can-return-to-their-place-of-birth-but-one-cannot-go-back-to-your/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [I still find each day too short..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/i-still-find-each-day-too-short/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [What a severe yet master artist old Winter is... No longer the canvas and the pigments, but the marble and the chisel...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/what-a-severe-yet-master-artist-old-winter-is-no-longer-the-canvas/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Following World War II, the U.S. was the architect of the UN system, and the world financial system, and the Human Rights Declaration, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/following-world-war-ii-the-u-s-was-the-architect-of-the-un-system-and/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [“Go to the sea or climb the mountain, and with the ruggedest and the savagest you will find likewise the fairest and the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/go-to-the-sea-or-climb-the-mountain-and-with-the-ruggedest-and-the/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) [Explore all 281 John Burroughs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) ## More Nuclear quotes > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Russia and the USA are two largest nuclear powers in the world; it's a really important relationship. How do we start making this work?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-w-tillerson/russia-and-the-usa-are-two-largest-nuclear-powers-in-the-world-it-s-a/) [Rex W. Tillerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-w-tillerson/) > [We do not know which irresponsible Israeli prime minister will take office and decide to use nuclear weapons in the struggle against neighboring Arab…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordechai-vanunu/we-do-not-know-which-irresponsible-israeli-prime-minister-will-take/) [Mordechai Vanunu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordechai-vanunu/) > [Natural history is not taught in seminary. This is curious, as most people in pastoral ministry are about 567 times more likely to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-maitland/natural-history-is-not-taught-in-seminary-this-is-curious-as-most/) [Sara Maitland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-maitland/) > [The whole nuclear-arms-control and non-proliferation policy of the nuclear powers is a fraud: The Americans could not prevent the Soviets from replicating their weaponry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-black/the-whole-nuclear-arms-control-and-non-proliferation-policy-of-the/) [Conrad Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-black/) > [I don't believe anyone that I know in the administration ever said that Iraq had nuclear weapons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rumsfeld/i-don-t-believe-anyone-that-i-know-in-the-administration-ever-said/) [Donald Rumsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rumsfeld/) > [A nuclear-weapons armed Iran is not in anyone's human-rights interests. That is a direct threat to the lives and the livelihoods and the stability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/a-nuclear-weapons-armed-iran-is-not-in-anyone-s-human-rights/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [There is no direct evidence that nuclear weapons prevented a world war. Conversely, it is known that they nearly caused one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-rotblat/there-is-no-direct-evidence-that-nuclear-weapons-prevented-a-world/) [Joseph Rotblat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-rotblat/) > [We are always just one successful terrorist attack away from a nuclear disaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-thompson/we-are-always-just-one-successful-terrorist-attack-away-from-a/) [Fred Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-thompson/) > [It's my firm conclusion that human meaning comes from humans, not from a supernatural source. After we die, our hopes for an afterlife reside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/it-s-my-firm-conclusion-that-human-meaning-comes-from-humans-not-from/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [Wasn't Saddam destroyed? Wasn't Gaddafi liquidated? Didn't Milosevic go to the Hague? All true. But Stalin survived. Kim Jong-un isn't doing too badly, either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fisk/wasn-t-saddam-destroyed-wasn-t-gaddafi-liquidated-didn-t-milosevic-go/) [Robert Fisk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fisk/) > [“there was no way that weapon of mass destruction was going to work its way inside my body.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-crownover/there-was-no-way-that-weapon-of-mass-destruction-was-going-to-work/) [Jay Crownover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-crownover/) > [Certainly in the United States, you have a constituency in the form of the weapons laboratories, and you also have the branches of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/certainly-in-the-united-states-you-have-a-constituency-in-the-form-of/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) [Browse all 2,201 Nuclear quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Unfortunately, nuclear weapons have become identified with state power.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Burroughs" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/unfortunately-nuclear-weapons-have-become-identified-with-state-power/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Nuclear" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/unfortunately-nuclear-weapons-have-become-identified-with-state-power/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/john-burroughs-1157_nuclear_unfortunately-nuclear-weapons-have-becom_2855080.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/john-burroughs-1157_nuclear_unfortunately-nuclear-weapons-have-becom_2855080.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/john-burroughs-1157_nuclear_unfortunately-nuclear-weapons-have-becom_2855080.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Unfortunately, nuclear weapons have become identified with state power.” — John Burroughs", "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": "John Burroughs", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Unfortunately, nuclear weapons have become identified...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/unfortunately-nuclear-weapons-have-become-identified-with-state-power/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/unfortunately-nuclear-weapons-have-become-identified-with-state-power/#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 } } ] } ```