--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every war is its own excuse. That's why…" description: "\"Every war is its own excuse. That's why they're all surrounded with ideals. That's why they're all crusades.\" — Karl Shapiro" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0dc/karl-shapiro-24403_crusades_every-war-is-its-own-excuse-that-s-why-t_772494.jpg" --- # Every war is its own excuse. That's why they're all… ![“Every war is its own excuse. That's why they're all surrounded with ideals. That's why they're all crusades.” quote by Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0dc/karl-shapiro-24403_crusades_every-war-is-its-own-excuse-that-s-why-t_772494.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0dc/karl-shapiro-24403_crusades_every-war-is-its-own-excuse-that-s-why-t_772494.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0dc/karl-shapiro-24403_crusades_every-war-is-its-own-excuse-that-s-why-t_772494.jpg) > “Every war is its own excuse. That's why they're all surrounded with ideals. That's why they're all crusades.” [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. War creates its own justification, cloaked in ideals and crusades, masking true motives. **In simple terms:** War hides motives behind lofty ideals. Key Takeaway Question the narrative. Themes war ideology justification Mood critical serious Type political philosophical When to use this quote - political debates - media analysis - historical study - activism Key Concepts political theory propaganda Questions to Reflect On - Why do societies rally around war? - How can we discern true motives? A Different Perspective Idealism can be genuine, not just a cover. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Crusades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crusades/) [Ideals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideals/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [We weed out the darnel from the corn and the unfit in war, but do not excuse evil men from the service of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/we-weed-out-the-darnel-from-the-corn-and-the-unfit-in-war-but-do-not/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [Poverty and War have no excuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanna-bonta/poverty-and-war-have-no-excuse/) [Vanna Bonta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanna-bonta/) > [I'm quite amused by the attempt to excuse not trying harder, by claiming that perfect is not possible; it may not be, but striving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-schlessinger/i-m-quite-amused-by-the-attempt-to-excuse-not-trying-harder-by/) [Laura Schlessinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-schlessinger/) > [...until the Crusades Islam was indistinguishable from Judaism and... only then did it receive its independent character, while Muhammad and the first Caliphs are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-alexandrovich-morozov/until-the-crusades-islam-was-indistinguishable-from-judaism-and-only/) Nikolai Alexandrovich Morozov > [Many argue that Christianity is "different" from other religions - that it is primarily about love of one's fellow man. The Crusades, The Inquisition,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-bernstein/many-argue-that-christianity-is-different-from-other-religions-that/) [Andrew Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-bernstein/) > [What we need are mental and spiritual giants who are aflame with a purpose . . . We're a race ready for crusade, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nannie-helen-burroughs/what-we-need-are-mental-and-spiritual-giants-who-are-aflame-with-a/) [Nannie Helen Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nannie-helen-burroughs/) > [Now that they talk about Islam as being a violent faith, when you look at the history of Christendom, the Crusades and the many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/now-that-they-talk-about-islam-as-being-a-violent-faith-when-you-look/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Hope springs eternal, even for hopeless crusades.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kayleigh-mcenany/hope-springs-eternal-even-for-hopeless-crusades/) [Kayleigh McEnany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kayleigh-mcenany/) > [When Conservatives crusade against government while they are trying to be appointed to head the government, I think that's weird!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/when-conservatives-crusade-against-government-while-they-are-trying/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [You know — we've had to imagine the war here, and we have imagined that it was being fought by aging men like ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/you-know-we-ve-had-to-imagine-the-war-here-and-we-have-imagined-that/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [After more than two decades of trying to destroy the firearms rights of more than 80 million law-abiding American gun owners - and statistically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-gottlieb/after-more-than-two-decades-of-trying-to-destroy-the-firearms-rights/) Alan Gottlieb > [Well, for me, my favourite 'Indiana Jones' is 'The Last Crusade,' because you get tears in your eyes when you see the old guard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-winstone/well-for-me-my-favourite-indiana-jones-is-the-last-crusade-because/) [Ray Winstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-winstone/) > [Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/soldiers-sailors-and-airmen-of-the-allied-expeditionary-force-you-are/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [Helen Crawfurd and the Women's Peace Crusade, made a march on the City Chambers, distributing an illegal leaflet in front of police and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-gallacher/helen-crawfurd-and-the-women-s-peace-crusade-made-a-march-on-the-city/) Willie Gallacher > [Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. ... We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/our-nation-was-born-in-genocide-when-it-embraced-the-doctrine-that/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) ## More by Karl Shapiro > [Keelhaul the poets in the vestry chairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/keelhaul-the-poets-in-the-vestry-chairs/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [To make the child in your own image is a capital crime, for your image is not worth repeating. The child knows this and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/to-make-the-child-in-your-own-image-is-a-capital-crime-for-your-image/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [The good poet sticks to his real loves, to see within the realm of possibility. He never tries to hold hands with God or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/the-good-poet-sticks-to-his-real-loves-to-see-within-the-realm-of/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [In the tight belly of the dead, Burrow with hungry head, And inlay maggots like a jewel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/in-the-tight-belly-of-the-dead-burrow-with-hungry-head-and-inlay/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [A man's house is his stage. Others walk on to play their bit parts. Now and again a soliloquy, a birth, an adultery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/a-man-s-house-is-his-stage-others-walk-on-to-play-their-bit-parts-now/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [How something important happens is the business of historians and newspapers, the effect it has is the business of philosophers and writers and especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/how-something-important-happens-is-the-business-of-historians-and/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [The proverbist knows nothing of the two sides of a question. He knows only the roundness of answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/the-proverbist-knows-nothing-of-the-two-sides-of-a-question-he-knows/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [Poets of course are even more unpredictable than other writers, overwhelmed as they are by the moment they inhabit and finding it difficult to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/poets-of-course-are-even-more-unpredictable-than-other-writers/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [Self-knowledge is a dangerous thing, tending to make man shallow or insane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/self-knowledge-is-a-dangerous-thing-tending-to-make-man-shallow-or/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [Laughter and grief join hands. Always the heart Clumps in the breast with heavy stride; The face grows lined and wrinkled like a chart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/laughter-and-grief-join-hands-always-the-heart-clumps-in-the-breast/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [But with exquisite breathing you smile, with satisfaction of love, And I touch you again as you tick in the silence and settle in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/but-with-exquisite-breathing-you-smile-with-satisfaction-of-love-and/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [The doctor punched my vein, the captain called me Cain, upon my belly sat the sow of fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/the-doctor-punched-my-vein-the-captain-called-me-cain-upon-my-belly/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [I see slip to the curb the long machines Out of whose warm and windowed rooms pirouette Shellacked with silk and light The hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/i-see-slip-to-the-curb-the-long-machines-out-of-whose-warm-and/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [Lawyers love paper. They eat, sleep and dream paper. They turn paper into gold, and their files are colorful and their language neoclassical and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/lawyers-love-paper-they-eat-sleep-and-dream-paper-they-turn-paper/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [Leo Connellan has retained his soul and voice in Provincetown and Other Poems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/leo-connellan-has-retained-his-soul-and-voice-in-provincetown-and/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) [Explore all 24 Karl Shapiro quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) ## More Crusades quotes > [Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. ... We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/our-nation-was-born-in-genocide-when-it-embraced-the-doctrine-that/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Helen Crawfurd and the Women's Peace Crusade, made a march on the City Chambers, distributing an illegal leaflet in front of police and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-gallacher/helen-crawfurd-and-the-women-s-peace-crusade-made-a-march-on-the-city/) Willie Gallacher > [Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/soldiers-sailors-and-airmen-of-the-allied-expeditionary-force-you-are/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [Well, for me, my favourite 'Indiana Jones' is 'The Last Crusade,' because you get tears in your eyes when you see the old guard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-winstone/well-for-me-my-favourite-indiana-jones-is-the-last-crusade-because/) [Ray Winstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-winstone/) > [After more than two decades of trying to destroy the firearms rights of more than 80 million law-abiding American gun owners - and statistically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-gottlieb/after-more-than-two-decades-of-trying-to-destroy-the-firearms-rights/) Alan Gottlieb > [You know — we've had to imagine the war here, and we have imagined that it was being fought by aging men like ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/you-know-we-ve-had-to-imagine-the-war-here-and-we-have-imagined-that/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [When Conservatives crusade against government while they are trying to be appointed to head the government, I think that's weird!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/when-conservatives-crusade-against-government-while-they-are-trying/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [Hope springs eternal, even for hopeless crusades.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kayleigh-mcenany/hope-springs-eternal-even-for-hopeless-crusades/) [Kayleigh McEnany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kayleigh-mcenany/) > [Now that they talk about Islam as being a violent faith, when you look at the history of Christendom, the Crusades and the many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/now-that-they-talk-about-islam-as-being-a-violent-faith-when-you-look/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [What we need are mental and spiritual giants who are aflame with a purpose . . . We're a race ready for crusade, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nannie-helen-burroughs/what-we-need-are-mental-and-spiritual-giants-who-are-aflame-with-a/) [Nannie Helen Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nannie-helen-burroughs/) > [Many argue that Christianity is "different" from other religions - that it is primarily about love of one's fellow man. The Crusades, The Inquisition,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-bernstein/many-argue-that-christianity-is-different-from-other-religions-that/) [Andrew Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-bernstein/) > [...until the Crusades Islam was indistinguishable from Judaism and... only then did it receive its independent character, while Muhammad and the first Caliphs are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-alexandrovich-morozov/until-the-crusades-islam-was-indistinguishable-from-judaism-and-only/) Nikolai Alexandrovich Morozov > [The notion of political correctness has ignited controversy across the land. And although the movement arises from the laudable desire to sweep away the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-h-w-bush/the-notion-of-political-correctness-has-ignited-controversy-across/) [George H. W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-h-w-bush/) > [“I remember one Gentleman objected to the Christian Faith, that it made Men insolent, quarrelsom and ill-natur'd. From whence I concluded, (as I told…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-stephens/i-remember-one-gentleman-objected-to-the-christian-faith-that-it-made/) William Stephens > [People used to complain about 'the idle rich.' But the idle rich did not do the kind of harm being done by today's busybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/people-used-to-complain-about-the-idle-rich-but-the-idle-rich-did-not/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) [Browse all 208 Crusades quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crusades/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Every war is its own excuse. That's why they're all surrounded with ideals. 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