--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we are attacked we can only defend…" description: "\"If we are attacked we can only defend ourselves with guns not with butter.\" — Joseph Goebbels" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/joseph-goebbels-4054_anarchy_if-we-are-attacked-we-can-only-defend-ou_255856.jpg" --- # If we are attacked we can only defend ourselves with guns… ![“If we are attacked we can only defend ourselves with guns not with butter.” quote by Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/joseph-goebbels-4054_anarchy_if-we-are-attacked-we-can-only-defend-ou_255856.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/joseph-goebbels-4054_anarchy_if-we-are-attacked-we-can-only-defend-ou_255856.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/joseph-goebbels-4054_anarchy_if-we-are-attacked-we-can-only-defend-ou_255856.jpg) > “If we are attacked we can only defend ourselves with guns not with butter.” [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. In wartime, resources are prioritized for defense (guns) rather than civilian comforts (butter). **In simple terms:** War demands defense over comfort. Key Takeaway Prioritize essential security needs. Themes war resource allocation priorities Mood serious critical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - national emergencies - budget planning Key Concepts military strategy economics Questions to Reflect On - Is it ever justified to sacrifice basic needs for security? - How can societies balance defense and welfare? A Different Perspective The binary view oversimplifies complex economic and moral considerations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anarchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchy/) [Gun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gun/) [Guns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guns/) [Heresy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heresy/) ## Related quotes > [It would be refreshing to have a politician try to defend guns without any reference to the Second Amendment, but on the merits of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-would-be-refreshing-to-have-a-politician-try-to-defend-guns/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [American nation will not wait to be attacked again. We will defend our freedom and we will take the fight to the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/american-nation-will-not-wait-to-be-attacked-again-we-will-defend-our/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [The Russians put guns before butter. We put just about everything before guns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/the-russians-put-guns-before-butter-we-put-just-about-everything/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [How could you set yourself up as the most powerful institution on earth? You first find out what every man feels at least once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-szandor-lavey/how-could-you-set-yourself-up-as-the-most-powerful-institution-on/) [Anton Szandor LaVey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-szandor-lavey/) > [Money is my God. If you think God will help you then quit your job and see how much he cares.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/money-is-my-god-if-you-think-god-will-help-you-then-quit-your-job-and/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens, the more you control all the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-more-you-can-increase-fear-of-drugs-and-crime-welfare-mothers/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [If we choose, we can live in a world of comforting illusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-we-choose-we-can-live-in-a-world-of-comforting-illusion/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [You can't fight City Hall, but you can goddamn sure blow it up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/you-can-t-fight-city-hall-but-you-can-goddamn-sure-blow-it-up/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [No theory, no ready-made system, no book that has ever been written will save the world. I cleave to no system. I am a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/no-theory-no-ready-made-system-no-book-that-has-ever-been-written/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [We can do anything we like as long as it is UNIMPORTANT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-kaczynski/we-can-do-anything-we-like-as-long-as-it-is-unimportant/) [Theodore Kaczynski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-kaczynski/) > [Constitutional rights are useful up to a point, but they do not serve to guarantee much more than what could be called the bourgeois…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-kaczynski/constitutional-rights-are-useful-up-to-a-point-but-they-do-not-serve/) [Theodore Kaczynski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-kaczynski/) > [Your mind is totally controlled, it has been stuffed into my mold. And you will do as you are told, until the rights to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/your-mind-is-totally-controlled-it-has-been-stuffed-into-my-mold-and/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [The truth alone has never set anyone free. It is only DOUBT which will bring about mental emancipation. Without the wonderful element of doubt,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-szandor-lavey/the-truth-alone-has-never-set-anyone-free-it-is-only-doubt-which-will/) [Anton Szandor LaVey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-szandor-lavey/) > [Beware of the fish people, they are the true enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/beware-of-the-fish-people-they-are-the-true-enemy/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/any-man-who-afflicts-the-human-race-with-ideas-must-be-prepared-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## More by Joseph Goebbels > [If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/if-you-tell-a-lie-big-enough-and-keep-repeating-it-people-will/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [ \[Hitler thought\] that Mussolini was no figure of world history, like der Fuehrer or Stalin. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/hitler-thought-that-mussolini-was-no-figure-of-world-history-like-der/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [When you stroll through Munich it can happen that you suddenly stand in front of an old house, an idyllically-dreaming church that smiles like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/when-you-stroll-through-munich-it-can-happen-that-you-suddenly-stand/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [Intellectual activity is a danger to the building of character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/intellectual-activity-is-a-danger-to-the-building-of-character/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [There was no point in seeking to convert the intellectuals. For intellectuals would never be converted and would anyway always yield to the stronger,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/there-was-no-point-in-seeking-to-convert-the-intellectuals-for/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [If you tell a lie, tell a big one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/if-you-tell-a-lie-tell-a-big-one/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [Our starting point is not the individual: We do not subscribe to the view that one should feed the hungry, give drink to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/our-starting-point-is-not-the-individual-we-do-not-subscribe-to-the/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/if-you-repeat-a-lie-often-enough-people-will-believe-it-and-you-will/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [A media system wants ostensible diversity that conceals an actual uniformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/a-media-system-wants-ostensible-diversity-that-conceals-an-actual/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [Not every item of news should be published. Rather must those who control news policies endeavor to make every item of news serve a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/not-every-item-of-news-should-be-published-rather-must-those-who/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/if-you-repeat-a-lie-often-enough-it-becomes-the-truth/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [One should not as a rule reveal one's secrets, since one does not know if and when one may need them again. The essential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/one-should-not-as-a-rule-reveal-one-s-secrets-since-one-does-not-know/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [At night I sit in my chamber and read the bible. Far in the distance roars the sea. Then I lie down and think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/at-night-i-sit-in-my-chamber-and-read-the-bible-far-in-the-distance/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [If the German people lay down their arms the whole of Eastern and Southern Europe, together with the Reich, will come under Russian occupation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/if-the-german-people-lay-down-their-arms-the-whole-of-eastern-and/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their own free will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/propaganda-works-best-when-those-who-are-being-manipulated-are/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) [Explore all 116 Joseph Goebbels quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) ## More Anarchy quotes > [I'm in a business where there's complete anarchy. You can't control it - you can only react to it. The control that people traditionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sorrell/i-m-in-a-business-where-there-s-complete-anarchy-you-can-t-control-it/) [Martin Sorrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sorrell/) > [The "health, education, and welfare" section of government is another boondoggle. First we manufacture indigent and superfluous people by legal monopolies in land, money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurance-labadie/the-health-education-and-welfare-section-of-government-is-another/) [Laurance Labadie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurance-labadie/) > [The law is the collective organization of the individual's right to lawful defense of his life, liberty and property. When it is used for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-law-is-the-collective-organization-of-the-individual-s-right-to/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [So far I'm still standing on 'Sons of Anarchy' but all the rest of the people on the show have me in their crosshairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-pileggi/so-far-i-m-still-standing-on-sons-of-anarchy-but-all-the-rest-of-the/) Mitch Pileggi > [“Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science and Bad Religion in a World Without God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/anarchy-evolution-faith-science-and-bad-religion-in-a-world-without/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [Perhaps it is this theory of all work and no play that has made the Marxist such a very dull boy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-read/perhaps-it-is-this-theory-of-all-work-and-no-play-that-has-made-the/) [Herbert Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-read/) > [Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/anarchy-is-the-stepping-stone-to-absolute-power/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [In morals as in politics anarchy is not for the weak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/in-morals-as-in-politics-anarchy-is-not-for-the-weak/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [I think that if you run a big company, you've got to, four or five times a year, just say, 'Hey team, look, here's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-immelt/i-think-that-if-you-run-a-big-company-you-ve-got-to-four-or-five/) [Jeffrey R. Immelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-immelt/) > [Where you have no religion, you are sure to have no government, for as religion disappears, anarchy takes place and fixes a compleat Hell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-morgan/where-you-have-no-religion-you-are-sure-to-have-no-government-for-as/) [Daniel Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-morgan/) > [What a comfort it is to feel that amid the chaos and anarchy which sweep the surface, God is holding fast the foundations on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-b-meyer/what-a-comfort-it-is-to-feel-that-amid-the-chaos-and-anarchy-which/) [F.B. Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-b-meyer/) > [“An anarchist government somehow creates an impression in the hearts of citizens that no one cares.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/an-anarchist-government-somehow-creates-an-impression-in-the-hearts/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Would you like to do something good for the future of the human race; well, start killing some of its powerful members.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-brown/would-you-like-to-do-something-good-for-the-future-of-the-human-race/) [William C. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-brown/) > [“twenty-three years of RFRAs to produce anarchy,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corvino/twenty-three-years-of-rfras-to-produce-anarchy/) [John Corvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corvino/) > [Freedom is that faculty that enlarges the usefulness of all other faculties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/freedom-is-that-faculty-that-enlarges-the-usefulness-of-all-other/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) [Browse all 795 Anarchy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If we are attacked we can only defend ourselves with guns not with butter.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Goebbels" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/if-we-are-attacked-we-can-only-defend-ourselves-with-guns-not-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anarchy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/if-we-are-attacked-we-can-only-defend-ourselves-with-guns-not-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/joseph-goebbels-4054_anarchy_if-we-are-attacked-we-can-only-defend-ou_255856.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/joseph-goebbels-4054_anarchy_if-we-are-attacked-we-can-only-defend-ou_255856.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1dc/joseph-goebbels-4054_anarchy_if-we-are-attacked-we-can-only-defend-ou_255856.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If we are attacked we can only defend ourselves with guns not with butter.” — Joseph Goebbels", "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": "Joseph Goebbels", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If we are attacked we can...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/if-we-are-attacked-we-can-only-defend-ourselves-with-guns-not-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/if-we-are-attacked-we-can-only-defend-ourselves-with-guns-not-with/#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 } } ] } ```