--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For our purpose, however, what the…" description: "\"“For our purpose, however, what the soldiers did or did not read is irrelevant. For, if soldiers did not learn to fight their battles from reading book..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/john-keegan-14504_books_for-our-purpose-however-what-the-soldier_2591431.jpg" --- # For our purpose, however, what the soldiers did or did not… ![“For our purpose, however, what the soldiers did or did not read is irrelevant. For, if soldiers did not learn to fight their battles from reading books, neither is it likely that military historians learned to write their books from watching battles. Battles are extremely confusing; and confronted…” quote by John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/john-keegan-14504_books_for-our-purpose-however-what-the-soldier_2591431.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/john-keegan-14504_books_for-our-purpose-however-what-the-soldier_2591431.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/john-keegan-14504_books_for-our-purpose-however-what-the-soldier_2591431.jpg) > ““For our purpose, however, what the soldiers did or did not read is irrelevant. For, if soldiers did not learn to fight their battles from reading books, neither is it likely that military historians learned to write their books from watching battles. Battles are extremely confusing; and confronted with the need to make sense of something he does not understand, even the cleverest, indeed preeminently the cleverest man, realizing his need for a language and metaphor he does not possess, will turn to look at what someone else has already made of a similar set of events as a guide for his own pen.”” [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding battles requires language; soldiers and historians rely on existing narratives to make sense of conflict. **In simple terms:** People use stories to understand war. Key Takeaway Seek clear frameworks when faced with confusion. Themes history communication interpretation Mood analytical reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - military training - historical research - education - strategic planning Key Concepts narrative metaphor cognitive framing Questions to Reflect On - How do you create your own language for complex events? - When is it better to develop new frameworks? A Different Perspective Relying on others' accounts can limit original insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Reading books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-books/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [“Soldiers' main purpose in life is to protect their citizens within their country, and not to fight wars that their leaders as put in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temitope-owosela/soldiers-main-purpose-in-life-is-to-protect-their-citizens-within/) [Temitope Owosela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temitope-owosela/) > [The quarrel of the sociologists with the historians is that the latter have learned so much about how to do it that they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-quarrel-of-the-sociologists-with-the-historians-is-that-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are one or two very good women military historians who use imagination, great study and research; they can put themselves in the boots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-beevor/there-are-one-or-two-very-good-women-military-historians-who-use/) [Antony Beevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-beevor/) > [“(What Jim had seen tallied with studies conducted after the Second World War by the military historian General S.L.A. 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Battles are extremely confusing; and confronted with the need to make sense of something he does not understand, even the cleverest, indeed preeminently the cleverest man, realizing his need for a language and metaphor he does not possess, will turn to look at what someone else has already made of a similar set of events as a guide for his own pen.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Keegan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/for-our-purpose-however-what-the-soldiers-did-or-did-not-read-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/for-our-purpose-however-what-the-soldiers-did-or-did-not-read-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/john-keegan-14504_books_for-our-purpose-however-what-the-soldier_2591431.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/john-keegan-14504_books_for-our-purpose-however-what-the-soldier_2591431.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/john-keegan-14504_books_for-our-purpose-however-what-the-soldier_2591431.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For our purpose, however, what the soldiers did or did not read is irrelevant. 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