--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are governed not by armies, but by…" description: "\"We are governed not by armies, but by ideas.\" — Mona Caird" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/mona-caird-80013_armies_we-are-governed-not-by-armies-but-by-ide_594802.jpg" --- # We are governed not by armies, but by ideas. ![“We are governed not by armies, but by ideas.” quote by Mona Caird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/mona-caird-80013_armies_we-are-governed-not-by-armies-but-by-ide_594802.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/mona-caird-80013_armies_we-are-governed-not-by-armies-but-by-ide_594802.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/mona-caird-80013_armies_we-are-governed-not-by-armies-but-by-ide_594802.jpg) > “We are governed not by armies, but by ideas.” Mona Caird ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ideas shape societies more profoundly than military force. **In simple terms:** Ideas rule more than armies. Key Takeaway Cultivate and share powerful ideas. Themes ideas governance culture Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - education reform - media influence - grassroots activism - policy making Key Concepts political philosophy social change Questions to Reflect On - What ideas are currently reshaping your world? - How can ideas be protected from misuse? A Different Perspective Ideas can be suppressed or ignored without action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Armies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/armies/) [Army](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/army/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [We are not governed by armies or police, but by ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-caird/we-are-not-governed-by-armies-or-police-but-by-ideas/) Mona Caird > [It is useless to send armies against ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-brandes/it-is-useless-to-send-armies-against-ideas/) [Georg Brandes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-brandes/) > [We are not intimidated by the size of the armies, or the type of hardware the US has brought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saddam-hussein/we-are-not-intimidated-by-the-size-of-the-armies-or-the-type-of/) [Saddam Hussein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saddam-hussein/) > [All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-the-armies-of-europe-asia-and-africa-combined-with-all-the/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [If one is intelligent and applies himself well, what can he not accomplish? Even small bands of people, I have heard, have defeated whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakya-pandita/if-one-is-intelligent-and-applies-himself-well-what-can-he-not/) Sakya Pandita > [Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/ants-are-so-much-like-human-beings-as-to-be-an-embarrassment-they/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“How long does it take for two armies to destroy each other when one has an abundance of bodies and the other an abundance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-mazza/how-long-does-it-take-for-two-armies-to-destroy-each-other-when-one/) Sarah Mazza > [Armies are a purely human invention. Most soldiers who go to war nowadays don't even do it because they're inherently aggressive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/armies-are-a-purely-human-invention-most-soldiers-who-go-to-war/) [Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/) > [As we've seen, deploying large armies abroad won't always be our best offense. Countries typically don't want foreign soldiers in their cities and towns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-brennan/as-we-ve-seen-deploying-large-armies-abroad-won-t-always-be-our-best/) [John O. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-o-brennan/) > [My favorite parts about 'The Battle of Five Armies' were the moments where you could clearly see that we were looking at New Zealand.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evangeline-lilly/my-favorite-parts-about-the-battle-of-five-armies-were-the-moments/) [Evangeline Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evangeline-lilly/) > [If you're in the middle of a field, surrounded by armies, left right and centre, you can't just say: 'I've had enough now, sorry.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-pardew/if-you-re-in-the-middle-of-a-field-surrounded-by-armies-left-right/) [Alan Pardew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-pardew/) > [Rule 1, on page I of the book of war, is: "Do not march on Moscow". Various people have tried it, Napoleon and Hitler,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-law-montgomery/rule-1-on-page-i-of-the-book-of-war-is-do-not-march-on-moscow-various/) [Bernard Law Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-law-montgomery/) > [I sincerely believe... that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-sincerely-believe-that-banking-establishments-are-more-dangerous-2/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Countries, not just their armies, win wars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/countries-not-just-their-armies-win-wars/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [It's with them that we have constituted a liberation front and brought our logistic support to armies to help their countries come out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmed-ben-bella/it-s-with-them-that-we-have-constituted-a-liberation-front-and/) [Ahmed Ben Bella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ahmed-ben-bella/) ## More by Mona Caird > [The world is full of tragedy; and sympathy, a little common sympathy, can do so much to soften the worst of grief. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-caird/the-world-is-full-of-tragedy-and-sympathy-a-little-common-sympathy/) Mona Caird > [We are not governed by armies or police, but by ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-caird/we-are-not-governed-by-armies-or-police-but-by-ideas/) Mona Caird Explore all 3 Mona Caird quotes ## More Armies quotes > [It's with them that we have constituted a liberation front and brought our logistic support to armies to help their countries come out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmed-ben-bella/it-s-with-them-that-we-have-constituted-a-liberation-front-and/) [Ahmed Ben Bella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ahmed-ben-bella/) > [Countries, not just their armies, win wars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/countries-not-just-their-armies-win-wars/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [We are not intimidated by the size of the armies, or the type of hardware the US has brought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saddam-hussein/we-are-not-intimidated-by-the-size-of-the-armies-or-the-type-of/) [Saddam Hussein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saddam-hussein/) > [All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-the-armies-of-europe-asia-and-africa-combined-with-all-the/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [If one is intelligent and applies himself well, what can he not accomplish? Even small bands of people, I have heard, have defeated whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakya-pandita/if-one-is-intelligent-and-applies-himself-well-what-can-he-not/) Sakya Pandita > [I sincerely believe... that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-sincerely-believe-that-banking-establishments-are-more-dangerous-2/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Rule 1, on page I of the book of war, is: "Do not march on Moscow". Various people have tried it, Napoleon and Hitler,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-law-montgomery/rule-1-on-page-i-of-the-book-of-war-is-do-not-march-on-moscow-various/) [Bernard Law Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-law-montgomery/) > [If you're in the middle of a field, surrounded by armies, left right and centre, you can't just say: 'I've had enough now, sorry.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-pardew/if-you-re-in-the-middle-of-a-field-surrounded-by-armies-left-right/) [Alan Pardew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-pardew/) > [My favorite parts about 'The Battle of Five Armies' were the moments where you could clearly see that we were looking at New Zealand.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evangeline-lilly/my-favorite-parts-about-the-battle-of-five-armies-were-the-moments/) [Evangeline Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evangeline-lilly/) > [As we've seen, deploying large armies abroad won't always be our best offense. Countries typically don't want foreign soldiers in their cities and towns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-brennan/as-we-ve-seen-deploying-large-armies-abroad-won-t-always-be-our-best/) [John O. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-o-brennan/) > [Armies are a purely human invention. Most soldiers who go to war nowadays don't even do it because they're inherently aggressive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/armies-are-a-purely-human-invention-most-soldiers-who-go-to-war/) [Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/) > [“How long does it take for two armies to destroy each other when one has an abundance of bodies and the other an abundance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-mazza/how-long-does-it-take-for-two-armies-to-destroy-each-other-when-one/) Sarah Mazza > [Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/ants-are-so-much-like-human-beings-as-to-be-an-embarrassment-they/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [History shows that there are no invincible armies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/history-shows-that-there-are-no-invincible-armies/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [Great armies are nothing but a collection of weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/great-armies-are-nothing-but-a-collection-of-weakness/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) [Browse all 123 Armies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/armies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We are governed not by armies, but by ideas.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mona Caird" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-caird/we-are-governed-not-by-armies-but-by-ideas/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Armies" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-caird/we-are-governed-not-by-armies-but-by-ideas/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/mona-caird-80013_armies_we-are-governed-not-by-armies-but-by-ide_594802.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/mona-caird-80013_armies_we-are-governed-not-by-armies-but-by-ide_594802.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/mona-caird-80013_armies_we-are-governed-not-by-armies-but-by-ide_594802.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We are governed not by armies, but by ideas.” — Mona Caird", "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": "Mona Caird", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-caird/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We are governed not by armies,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-caird/we-are-governed-not-by-armies-but-by-ideas/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-caird/we-are-governed-not-by-armies-but-by-ideas/#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 } } ] } ```