--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Make war not on terrorism but on…" description: "\"Make war not on terrorism but on ignorance, on sickness and on environmental degradation.\" — Kurt Vonnegut" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/kurt-vonnegut-41_degradation_make-war-not-on-terrorism-but-on-ignoran_2727606.jpg" --- # Make war not on terrorism but on ignorance, on sickness… ![“Make war not on terrorism but on ignorance, on sickness and on environmental degradation.” quote by Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/kurt-vonnegut-41_degradation_make-war-not-on-terrorism-but-on-ignoran_2727606.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/kurt-vonnegut-41_degradation_make-war-not-on-terrorism-but-on-ignoran_2727606.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/kurt-vonnegut-41_degradation_make-war-not-on-terrorism-but-on-ignoran_2727606.jpg) > “Make war not on terrorism but on ignorance, on sickness and on environmental degradation.” [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Combat ignorance, disease, and environmental harm, not just terrorism. **In simple terms:** Target root causes, not just symptoms. Key Takeaway Focus on education, health, ecology. Themes peace environment health Mood urgent hopeful Type activist inspirational When to use this quote - public policy - community health - climate action Key Concepts systems thinking activism Questions to Reflect On - How can societies prioritize these battles? - What resources are needed? A Different Perspective Complex issues require coordinated effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Degradation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degradation/) [Environmental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental/) [Environmental degradation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental-degradation/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Sickness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sickness/) [Terrorism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrorism/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [Where there is ignorance, sickness will thrive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-tezuka/where-there-is-ignorance-sickness-will-thrive/) [Osamu Tezuka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-tezuka/) > [“Imam Ali(as) said, " The body experinces six different states: health, sickness, death, life, sleep, and wakefulness, and so does the spirit. Its life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imam-ali-ibn-abu-talib/imam-ali-as-said-the-body-experinces-six-different-states-health/) [Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imam-ali-ibn-abu-talib/) > [“Whenever my children complain about the planet to me, I say 'Shut up, I just got here myself'.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/whenever-my-children-complain-about-the-planet-to-me-i-say-shut-up-i/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-palin/god-s-will-has-to-be-done-in-unifying-people-and-companies-to-get/) [Sarah Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-palin/) > [“The human skin evolved in a natural electromagnetic radiation environment and is now in a very unnatural man-made one that is making many people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-human-skin-evolved-in-a-natural-electromagnetic-radiation/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [Peace should be understood in a human way - in a broad social, political and economic way. Peace is threatened by unjust economic, social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/peace-should-be-understood-in-a-human-way-in-a-broad-social-political/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [It's clear that agriculture, done right, is the best means the world has today to simultaneously tackle food security, poverty and environmental degradation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irene-rosenfeld/it-s-clear-that-agriculture-done-right-is-the-best-means-the-world/) [Irene Rosenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irene-rosenfeld/) > [“If we deny climate change and don’t care about environmental degradation; we are no more than those people who are willing to be stupid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/if-we-deny-climate-change-and-don-t-care-about-environmental/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [“If our shallow, self-critical culture sometimes seems to lack a sense of the numinous or spiritual it’s only in the same way a fish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/if-our-shallow-self-critical-culture-sometimes-seems-to-lack-a-sense/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [Grave security concerns can arise as a result of demographic trends, chronic poverty, economic inequality, environmental degradation, pandemic diseases, organized crime, repressive governance and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ban-ki-moon/grave-security-concerns-can-arise-as-a-result-of-demographic-trends/) [Ban Ki-moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ban-ki-moon/) > [Well, for starters, we have to do more to create demand for new technologies that can reduce our dependence on foreign oil and environmental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-boehlert/well-for-starters-we-have-to-do-more-to-create-demand-for-new/) [Sherwood Boehlert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-boehlert/) > [Environmental degradation, overpopulation, refugees, narcotics, terrorism, world crime movements, and organized crime are worldwide problems that don't stop at a nation's borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-christopher/environmental-degradation-overpopulation-refugees-narcotics-terrorism/) [Warren Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-christopher/) > [In an age of interdependence, global citizenship - based on trust and sense of shared responsibility - is a crucial pillar of progress. At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/in-an-age-of-interdependence-global-citizenship-based-on-trust-and/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [The global industrial economy is the engine for massive environmental degradation and massive human (and nonhuman) impoverishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/the-global-industrial-economy-is-the-engine-for-massive-environmental/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [All our efforts to defeat poverty and pursue sustainable development will be in vain if environmental degradation and natural resource depletion continue unabated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/all-our-efforts-to-defeat-poverty-and-pursue-sustainable-development/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) ## More by Kurt Vonnegut > [“You must bloom as a writer and I must bloom as a painter. Everything else about us is uninteresting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/you-must-bloom-as-a-writer-and-i-must-bloom-as-a-painter-everything/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“People aren't supposed to look back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/people-aren-t-supposed-to-look-back/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Have a good nap, did you?” said the porter. “Yes,” said Billy. “Man,” said the porter, “you sure had a hard-on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/have-a-good-nap-did-you-said-the-porter-yes-said-billy-man-said-the/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“I told him that if we doubted that we are demons in Hell, he should read The Mysterious Stranger, which Mark Twain wrote in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-told-him-that-if-we-doubted-that-we-are-demons-in-hell-he-should/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [ “Thomas Jefferson High School \[..\] His high school was named after a slave owner who was also one of the world’s greatest theoreticians on… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/thomas-jefferson-high-school-his-high-school-was-named-after-a-slave/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“I had a certain amount of skill as a dramatist, and Dr. Goebbels wanted me to use it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-had-a-certain-amount-of-skill-as-a-dramatist-and-dr-goebbels-wanted/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around. Lucky me, lucky mud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-was-some-of-the-mud-that-got-to-sit-up-and-look-around-lucky-me/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“The town was Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.A., Earth, Solar System, Milky Way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/the-town-was-newport-rhode-island-u-s-a-earth-solar-system-milky-way/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Her face was one of a kind, a surprising variation that made observers think, Yes--that would be another very nice way for people to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/her-face-was-one-of-a-kind-a-surprising-variation-that-made-observers/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“You finally fell in love, I see,” said Salo. “Only an Earthling year ago,” said Constant. “It took us that long to realize that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/you-finally-fell-in-love-i-see-said-salo-only-an-earthling-year-ago/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Like all Earthlings at the point of death, Mary Young sent faint reminders of herself to those who had known her. She released a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/like-all-earthlings-at-the-point-of-death-mary-young-sent-faint/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“And contrast Mary Kathleen, if you will, with my wife Ruth, the Ophelia of the death camps, who believed that even the most intelligent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/and-contrast-mary-kathleen-if-you-will-with-my-wife-ruth-the-ophelia/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Someday, someday, this crazy world will have to end, And our God will take things back that He to us did lend. And if,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/someday-someday-this-crazy-world-will-have-to-end-and-our-god-will/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“They were going back to the slaughterhouse for souvenirs of the war.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/they-were-going-back-to-the-slaughterhouse-for-souvenirs-of-the-war/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“There are plenty of good reasons for fighting," I said, "but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/there-are-plenty-of-good-reasons-for-fighting-i-said-but-no-good/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) [Explore all 2,089 Kurt Vonnegut quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) ## More Degradation quotes > [All our efforts to defeat poverty and pursue sustainable development will be in vain if environmental degradation and natural resource depletion continue unabated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/all-our-efforts-to-defeat-poverty-and-pursue-sustainable-development/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [The global industrial economy is the engine for massive environmental degradation and massive human (and nonhuman) impoverishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/the-global-industrial-economy-is-the-engine-for-massive-environmental/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [Poverty, for me, is synonymous with degradation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/poverty-for-me-is-synonymous-with-degradation/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [We must begin by acknowledging that there is a complete absence of two things in Indian Society. One of these is equality. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-r-ambedkar/we-must-begin-by-acknowledging-that-there-is-a-complete-absence-of/) [B. R. Ambedkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-r-ambedkar/) > [In an age of interdependence, global citizenship - based on trust and sense of shared responsibility - is a crucial pillar of progress. At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/in-an-age-of-interdependence-global-citizenship-based-on-trust-and/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [If all boys could be made to know that with every breath of cigarette smoke they inhale imbecility and exhale manhood ... and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hudson-maxim/if-all-boys-could-be-made-to-know-that-with-every-breath-of-cigarette/) Hudson Maxim > [If the world suffers from mental deterioration or from moral degradation, then something goes wrong at the very root of civilization or culture. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jawaharlal-nehru/if-the-world-suffers-from-mental-deterioration-or-from-moral/) [Jawaharlal Nehru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jawaharlal-nehru/) > [As a southerner born after the epic events of the civil rights movement, I've always wondered how on earth people of good will could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-meacham/as-a-southerner-born-after-the-epic-events-of-the-civil-rights/) [Jon Meacham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-meacham/) > [It's a terrible cruelty of predatory capitalism: both parents now have to work. A family has to have two incomes in order to buy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/it-s-a-terrible-cruelty-of-predatory-capitalism-both-parents-now-have/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Environmental degradation, overpopulation, refugees, narcotics, terrorism, world crime movements, and organized crime are worldwide problems that don't stop at a nation's borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-christopher/environmental-degradation-overpopulation-refugees-narcotics-terrorism/) [Warren Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-christopher/) > [What is it in absinthe that makes it a separate cult? The effects of its abuse are totally distinct from those of other stimulants.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/what-is-it-in-absinthe-that-makes-it-a-separate-cult-the-effects-of/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [Restoration ecology is experimental science, a science of love and altruism. 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