--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Cold War could have produced a hot…" description: "\"“The Cold War could have produced a hot war that might have ended human life on the planet. But because the fear of such a war turned out to be greater..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/116/john-lewis-gaddis-16949_cold-war_the-cold-war-could-have-produced-a-hot-w_2785389.jpg" --- # The Cold War could have produced a hot war that might have… ![“The Cold War could have produced a hot war that might have ended human life on the planet. But because the fear of such a war turned out to be greater than all of the differences that separated the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies, there was now reason for hope that it…” quote by John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/116/john-lewis-gaddis-16949_cold-war_the-cold-war-could-have-produced-a-hot-w_2785389.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/116/john-lewis-gaddis-16949_cold-war_the-cold-war-could-have-produced-a-hot-w_2785389.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/116/john-lewis-gaddis-16949_cold-war_the-cold-war-could-have-produced-a-hot-w_2785389.jpg) > ““The Cold War could have produced a hot war that might have ended human life on the planet. But because the fear of such a war turned out to be greater than all of the differences that separated the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies, there was now reason for hope that it would never take place.”” [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The fear of nuclear war prevented a hot war, offering hope that it wouldn't happen. **In simple terms:** Fear of catastrophe a war. Key Takeaway Appreciate deterrence. Themes deterrence fear hope Mood thoughtful serious Type historical analytical When to use this quote - diplomacy - military planning Key Concepts nuclear strategy international relations Questions to Reflect On - What maintains peace today? - How does fear shape policy? A Different Perspective Deterrence can be fragile. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cold war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-war/) [Fear War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear-war-756939/) [Hot War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hot-war-274227/) [Human life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-life/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Soviet union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soviet-union/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War Produced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-produced-3341073/) ## Related quotes > [We are constantly trying to cope with what our fathers or our grandfathers did. I wrote the book 'Great War of Civilization,' and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fisk/we-are-constantly-trying-to-cope-with-what-our-fathers-or-our/) [Robert Fisk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fisk/) > [“Well,” he said at last, “if you guys elect me leader, you must be even crazier than I am. So let’s build a spankin’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/well-he-said-at-last-if-you-guys-elect-me-leader-you-must-be-even/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [Every thing is fear in war n love...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mulfat/every-thing-is-fear-in-war-n-love/) [Mulfat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mulfat/) > [The fear of war is worse than war itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/the-fear-of-war-is-worse-than-war-itself/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Peace, if it ever exists, will not be based on the fear of war but on the love of peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/peace-if-it-ever-exists-will-not-be-based-on-the-fear-of-war-but-on-2/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [The greatest contributor to the feeling of tension and fear of war arose from the power of the bombing aeroplane. If all nations would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-rutherford/the-greatest-contributor-to-the-feeling-of-tension-and-fear-of-war/) [Ernest Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-rutherford/) > [Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/though-an-army-besiege-me-my-heart-will-not-fear-though-war-break-out/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [War is not heroic. War is not exhilarating. War is full of despair. It is dark. It is dreadful. It is a thing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tite-kubo/war-is-not-heroic-war-is-not-exhilarating-war-is-full-of-despair-it/) [Tite Kubo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tite-kubo/) > [It is because I believe that it is in the power of such nations to lead the world back into the paths of peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-henderson/it-is-because-i-believe-that-it-is-in-the-power-of-such-nations-to/) [Arthur Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-henderson/) > [Peace, if it ever exists, will not be based on the fear of war, but on the love of peace. It will not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-wouk/peace-if-it-ever-exists-will-not-be-based-on-the-fear-of-war-but-on/) [Herman Wouk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-wouk/) > [“Fear is always at war with faith.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/fear-is-always-at-war-with-faith/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [Wars are begun by frightened men. They fear war, but more than that, they fear what will happen if they don't start one or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-clancy/wars-are-begun-by-frightened-men-they-fear-war-but-more-than-that/) [Tom Clancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-clancy/) > [Every move we make in fear of the next war in fact hastens it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/every-move-we-make-in-fear-of-the-next-war-in-fact-hastens-it/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [“I know the vision you dreamed of for this nation and I know I may have destroyed it. But my first obligation is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-f-kuang/i-know-the-vision-you-dreamed-of-for-this-nation-and-i-know-i-may/) [R.F. Kuang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-f-kuang/) > [The Cold War philosophy of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), which prevented the former Soviet Union and the United States from using the nuclear weapons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lewis/the-cold-war-philosophy-of-mutual-assured-destruction-mad-which/) [Bernard Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lewis/) ## More by John Lewis Gaddis > [“It’s not a very nice solution,” Kennedy acknowledged, “but a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war.”54 The president could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/it-s-not-a-very-nice-solution-kennedy-acknowledged-but-a-wall-is-a/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [The United States came out of the 1990s, if anything, in an even greater position of hegemony and preeminence than it was at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/the-united-states-came-out-of-the-1990s-if-anything-in-an-even/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [I don't think there is necessarily a contradiction between being a hegemonic power on the one hand and functioning multilaterally on the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/i-don-t-think-there-is-necessarily-a-contradiction-between-being-a/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [George W. Bush has much to evaluate: he has presided over the most sweeping redesign of U.S. grand strategy since the presidency of Franklin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/george-w-bush-has-much-to-evaluate-he-has-presided-over-the-most/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [“Stalin’s first move, uncharacteristically, was to apologize to the Chinese comrades for having underestimated them: “Our opinions are not always correct,” he told a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/stalin-s-first-move-uncharacteristically-was-to-apologize-to-the/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [I think the way to think about the impact of Hiroshima is to think about it as a sudden shift in the balance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/i-think-the-way-to-think-about-the-impact-of-hiroshima-is-to-think/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [“Thanks to an ingenious constitution, their geographical isolation from potential rivals, and a magnificent endowment of natural resources, the Americans managed to build an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/thanks-to-an-ingenious-constitution-their-geographical-isolation-from/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [Second terms in the White House open the way for second thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/second-terms-in-the-white-house-open-the-way-for-second-thoughts/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [“I can’t take communism nor can you, but to cross this bridge I would hold hands with the Devil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/i-can-t-take-communism-nor-can-you-but-to-cross-this-bridge-i-would/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [“From 1957 through 1961, Khrushchev openly, repeatedly, and bloodcurdlingly threatened the West with nuclear annihilation. Soviet missile capabilities were so far superior to those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/from-1957-through-1961-khrushchev-openly-repeatedly-and/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [“Historical consciousness therefore leaves you, as does maturity itself, with a simultaneous sense of your own significance and insignificance. Like Friedrich's wanderer, you dominate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/historical-consciousness-therefore-leaves-you-as-does-maturity-itself/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [“His months of teaching experience were now a lost age of youth and innocence. He could no longer sit in his office at Fort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/his-months-of-teaching-experience-were-now-a-lost-age-of-youth-and/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [If there is one great power, and the great power has taken upon itself the right to preempt and is choosing for itself when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/if-there-is-one-great-power-and-the-great-power-has-taken-upon-itself/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [ “\[I\]n the interests of our common tasks, we must sometimes overlook their stupidities,” one Soviet official explained in 1973.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/i-n-the-interests-of-our-common-tasks-we-must-sometimes-overlook/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [“This is where the capitalists got it right: they were better than the communists at learning from history, because they never bought into any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/this-is-where-the-capitalists-got-it-right-they-were-better-than-the/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) [Explore all 38 John Lewis Gaddis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) ## More Cold war quotes > [“A clear look back on the Cold War's battlegrounds, along with a sense of relief that the world survived forty-five years of confrontation, evokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-clear-look-back-on-the-cold-war-s-battlegrounds-along-with-a-sense/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We have Internet now and people are not stupid. But it seems that some people are trying to push the same agenda of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bassem-youssef/we-have-internet-now-and-people-are-not-stupid-but-it-seems-that-some/) [Bassem Youssef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bassem-youssef/) > [“The low point occurred in July, during Romney’s junior week abroad, in which the press became increasingly frustrated over Romney’s refusal to talk to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leibovich/the-low-point-occurred-in-july-during-romney-s-junior-week-abroad-in/) [Mark Leibovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leibovich/) > [We have won an armistice on a single battlefield, not peace in our world. We may not now relax our guard nor cease our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/we-have-won-an-armistice-on-a-single-battlefield-not-peace-in-our/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [We do not have the right to forget that reactionary imperialism exists and its forces actively operate in the world, that they encourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-grechko/we-do-not-have-the-right-to-forget-that-reactionary-imperialism/) [Andrei Grechko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-grechko/) > [If you don't like us, don't accept our invitations and don't invite us to come to see you. Whether you like it or not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-khrushchev/if-you-don-t-like-us-don-t-accept-our-invitations-and-don-t-invite-us/) [Nikita Khrushchev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-khrushchev/) > [Ever since the end of the Cold War, it has been our paramount interest in Europe to strengthen NATO and to extend it -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-malinowski/ever-since-the-end-of-the-cold-war-it-has-been-our-paramount-interest/) [Tom Malinowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-malinowski/) > [“And so this is where the post Cold War has brought us: to the recognition that the very totalitarism that we fought against in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/and-so-this-is-where-the-post-cold-war-has-brought-us-to-the/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. 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It let the FBI work with the NSA outside of the limits of the law.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-weiner/stellar-wind-resurrected-cold-war-tactics-with-twenty-first-century/) [Tim Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-weiner/) > [TICAD is a conference Japan launched in 1993 to assist self-supporting development in Africa against the backdrop of the declining international interest in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fumio-kishida/ticad-is-a-conference-japan-launched-in-1993-to-assist-self/) [Fumio Kishida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fumio-kishida/) > [I have seen the rise and fall of Nazi tyranny, the subsequent cold war and the nuclear nightmare that for fifty years haunted the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-have-seen-the-rise-and-fall-of-nazi-tyranny-the-subsequent-cold-war/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The Cold War philosophy of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), which prevented the former Soviet Union and the United States from using the nuclear weapons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lewis/the-cold-war-philosophy-of-mutual-assured-destruction-mad-which/) [Bernard Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lewis/) [Browse all 906 Cold war quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-war/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The Cold War could have produced a hot war that might have ended human life on the planet. 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