--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: War proves nothing. To kill a man does…" description: "\"War proves nothing. To kill a man does not prove that he was in the wrong. Bloodletting cannot change men's spirits, neither can the evil of men's thou..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49d/nellie-l-mcclung-16299_bloodletting_war-proves-nothing-to-kill-a-man-does-no_2468925.jpg" --- # War proves nothing. To kill a man does not prove that he… ![“War proves nothing. To kill a man does not prove that he was in the wrong. Bloodletting cannot change men's spirits, neither can the evil of men's thoughts be driven out by blows. If I go to my neighbor's house, and break her furniture, and smash her pictures, and bind her children captive, it…” quote by Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49d/nellie-l-mcclung-16299_bloodletting_war-proves-nothing-to-kill-a-man-does-no_2468925.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49d/nellie-l-mcclung-16299_bloodletting_war-proves-nothing-to-kill-a-man-does-no_2468925.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49d/nellie-l-mcclung-16299_bloodletting_war-proves-nothing-to-kill-a-man-does-no_2468925.jpg) > “War proves nothing. To kill a man does not prove that he was in the wrong. Bloodletting cannot change men's spirits, neither can the evil of men's thoughts be driven out by blows. If I go to my neighbor's house, and break her furniture, and smash her pictures, and bind her children captive, it does not prove that I am fitter to live than she - yet according to ethics of nations it does. I have conquered her and she must pay me for my trouble; and her house and all that is left in it belongs to my heirs and successors, forever. That is war!” [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Argues that war and violence do not prove moral superiority; they merely reflect power. **In simple terms:** War doesn’t prove rightness. Key Takeaway Question power‑based justice. Themes ethics war power justice violence Mood somber critical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - military conflict - colonialism - human rights debates - legal tribunals Key Concepts moral philosophy political theory Questions to Reflect On - Can peace be achieved without force? - What alternatives exist to resolve conflict? A Different Perspective Violence can create lasting trauma and injustice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bloodletting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bloodletting/) [Blow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blow/) [Break](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/break/) [Captives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/captives/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Driven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/driven/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Ethics Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics-nations-739245/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Forever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forever/) [Furniture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/furniture/) [Heirs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heirs/) [House](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/house/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Neighbor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighbor/) [Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Prove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prove/) [Proves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proves/) [Proves Kill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proves-kill-739244/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Successors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successors/) [Trouble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trouble/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War Proves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-proves-739243/) ## Related quotes > [We can only reach our goal amid bloodletting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naz-m-hikmet-2/we-can-only-reach-our-goal-amid-bloodletting/) [Naz?m Hikmet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naz-m-hikmet-2/) > [When future historians look back on our way of curing inflation...they'll probably compare it to bloodletting in the Middle Ages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-iacocca/when-future-historians-look-back-on-our-way-of-curing-inflation-they/) [Lee Iacocca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-iacocca/) > [Converting the war into an antislavery crusade was a brilliant move on Lincoln's part, and it resulted in a surge of voluntary recruits into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-edward-griffin/converting-the-war-into-an-antislavery-crusade-was-a-brilliant-move/) [G. Edward Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-edward-griffin/) > [“I had seen that once before, bleeding water. A little baby I worked on as a resident in training. That poor kid had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edison-mcdaniels/i-had-seen-that-once-before-bleeding-water-a-little-baby-i-worked-on/) [Edison McDaniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edison-mcdaniels/) > [“..each bloodletting hastens the next, and as the value of human life is degraded and violence becomes tolerated, the unimaginable becomes more conceivable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-clinton/each-bloodletting-hastens-the-next-and-as-the-value-of-human-life-is/) [Bill Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-clinton/) > [“Esther Duflo, a professor at MIT with a strong French accent, likens all this research on development aid to medieval bloodletting.6 The once popular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/esther-duflo-a-professor-at-mit-with-a-strong-french-accent-likens/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [My family left Afghanistan in 1976, well before the Communist coup and the Soviet invasion. We certainly thought we would be going back. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/my-family-left-afghanistan-in-1976-well-before-the-communist-coup-and/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [Bloodletting on my premises that I ain't approved I take as a f\*\*\*ing affront. It puts me off my feed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-swearengen/bloodletting-on-my-premises-that-i-ain-t-approved-i-take-as-a-f-ing/) [Al Swearengen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-swearengen/) > [Bloodletting is among the ingredients of political medicine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/bloodletting-is-among-the-ingredients-of-political-medicine/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [About one or two songs per record is me doing a little bloodletting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-alexakis/about-one-or-two-songs-per-record-is-me-doing-a-little-bloodletting/) [Art Alexakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-alexakis/) > [“Vamps are really only like ten percent fun at any given time. The other ninety percent is largely fretting. And bloodletting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chloe-neill/vamps-are-really-only-like-ten-percent-fun-at-any-given-time-the/) [Chloe Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chloe-neill/) > [Writing is easy. Just sit in front of a typewriter, open up a vein and bleed it out drop by drop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-smith/writing-is-easy-just-sit-in-front-of-a-typewriter-open-up-a-vein-and/) [Red Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-smith/) > [The art of phlebotomy originated with bloodletting in 1400 B.C., and the modern clinical lab emerged in the 1960s - and it has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-holmes/the-art-of-phlebotomy-originated-with-bloodletting-in-1400-b-c-and/) [Elizabeth Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-holmes/) > [We can bear up under everything, if we have only the certainty that the monster Hitler with his insatiable bloodletting and plundering will have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-kellner/we-can-bear-up-under-everything-if-we-have-only-the-certainty-that/) [Friedrich Kellner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-kellner/) > [As in the pseudoscience of bloodletting, just so in the pseudoscience of city rebuilding and planning, years of learning and a plethora of subtle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/as-in-the-pseudoscience-of-bloodletting-just-so-in-the-pseudoscience/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) ## More by Nellie L. McClung > [No nation ever rises higher than its women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/no-nation-ever-rises-higher-than-its-women/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [Chivalry is a poor substitute for justice, if one cannot have both. Chivalry is something like the icing on the cake, sweet but not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/chivalry-is-a-poor-substitute-for-justice-if-one-cannot-have-both/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [War is a crime committed by men and, therefore, when enough people say it shall not be, it cannot be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/war-is-a-crime-committed-by-men-and-therefore-when-enough-people-say/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [Humanity has to travel a hard road to wisdom, and it has to travel it with bleeding feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/humanity-has-to-travel-a-hard-road-to-wisdom-and-it-has-to-travel-it/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [Disturbers are never popular - nobody ever really loved an alarm clock in action, no matter how grateful he may have been afterwards for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/disturbers-are-never-popular-nobody-ever-really-loved-an-alarm-clock/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [Children are great idealists, until the stupidity of their elders puts out the fires of the aspirations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/children-are-great-idealists-until-the-stupidity-of-their-elders-puts/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [Women had first to convince the world that they had souls and then that they had minds and then it came on to this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/women-had-first-to-convince-the-world-that-they-had-souls-and-then/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [In regard to tenacity of life, no old yellow cat has anything on a prejudice. You may kill it with your own hands, bury…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/in-regard-to-tenacity-of-life-no-old-yellow-cat-has-anything-on-a/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [Men alone are not capable of making laws for men and women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/men-alone-are-not-capable-of-making-laws-for-men-and-women/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [Chivalry is like a line of credit. You can get plenty of it when you do not need it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/chivalry-is-like-a-line-of-credit-you-can-get-plenty-of-it-when-you/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [Literature may be light as a cobweb, but it must be fastened down to life at the four corners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/literature-may-be-light-as-a-cobweb-but-it-must-be-fastened-down-to/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [The good is the greatest rival of the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/the-good-is-the-greatest-rival-of-the-best/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [Why are pencils equipped with erasers if not to correct mistakes?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/why-are-pencils-equipped-with-erasers-if-not-to-correct-mistakes/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [The middle years of life come on like thunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/the-middle-years-of-life-come-on-like-thunder/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [I think this is the greatest and best country in all the world, with its great sunlit spaces and its long long roads, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/i-think-this-is-the-greatest-and-best-country-in-all-the-world-with/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) [Explore all 40 Nellie L. McClung quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) ## More Bloodletting quotes > [We can only reach our goal amid bloodletting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naz-m-hikmet-2/we-can-only-reach-our-goal-amid-bloodletting/) [Naz?m Hikmet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naz-m-hikmet-2/) > [We can bear up under everything, if we have only the certainty that the monster Hitler with his insatiable bloodletting and plundering will have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-kellner/we-can-bear-up-under-everything-if-we-have-only-the-certainty-that/) [Friedrich Kellner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-kellner/) > [The art of phlebotomy originated with bloodletting in 1400 B.C., and the modern clinical lab emerged in the 1960s - and it has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-holmes/the-art-of-phlebotomy-originated-with-bloodletting-in-1400-b-c-and/) [Elizabeth Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-holmes/) > [Writing is easy. Just sit in front of a typewriter, open up a vein and bleed it out drop by drop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-smith/writing-is-easy-just-sit-in-front-of-a-typewriter-open-up-a-vein-and/) [Red Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-smith/) > [“Vamps are really only like ten percent fun at any given time. The other ninety percent is largely fretting. And bloodletting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chloe-neill/vamps-are-really-only-like-ten-percent-fun-at-any-given-time-the/) [Chloe Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chloe-neill/) > [About one or two songs per record is me doing a little bloodletting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-alexakis/about-one-or-two-songs-per-record-is-me-doing-a-little-bloodletting/) [Art Alexakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-alexakis/) > [Bloodletting is among the ingredients of political medicine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/bloodletting-is-among-the-ingredients-of-political-medicine/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [Bloodletting on my premises that I ain't approved I take as a f\*\*\*ing affront. It puts me off my feed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-swearengen/bloodletting-on-my-premises-that-i-ain-t-approved-i-take-as-a-f-ing/) [Al Swearengen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-swearengen/) > [My family left Afghanistan in 1976, well before the Communist coup and the Soviet invasion. We certainly thought we would be going back. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/my-family-left-afghanistan-in-1976-well-before-the-communist-coup-and/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“Esther Duflo, a professor at MIT with a strong French accent, likens all this research on development aid to medieval bloodletting.6 The once popular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/esther-duflo-a-professor-at-mit-with-a-strong-french-accent-likens/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [“..each bloodletting hastens the next, and as the value of human life is degraded and violence becomes tolerated, the unimaginable becomes more conceivable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-clinton/each-bloodletting-hastens-the-next-and-as-the-value-of-human-life-is/) [Bill Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-clinton/) > [“I had seen that once before, bleeding water. A little baby I worked on as a resident in training. That poor kid had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edison-mcdaniels/i-had-seen-that-once-before-bleeding-water-a-little-baby-i-worked-on/) [Edison McDaniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edison-mcdaniels/) > [Converting the war into an antislavery crusade was a brilliant move on Lincoln's part, and it resulted in a surge of voluntary recruits into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-edward-griffin/converting-the-war-into-an-antislavery-crusade-was-a-brilliant-move/) [G. Edward Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-edward-griffin/) > [When future historians look back on our way of curing inflation...they'll probably compare it to bloodletting in the Middle Ages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-iacocca/when-future-historians-look-back-on-our-way-of-curing-inflation-they/) [Lee Iacocca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-iacocca/) > [As in the pseudoscience of bloodletting, just so in the pseudoscience of city rebuilding and planning, years of learning and a plethora of subtle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/as-in-the-pseudoscience-of-bloodletting-just-so-in-the-pseudoscience/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) [Browse all 17 Bloodletting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bloodletting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "War proves nothing. To kill a man does not prove that he was in the wrong. Bloodletting cannot change men's spirits, neither can the evil of men's thoughts be driven out by blows. If I go to my neighbor's house, and break her furniture, and smash her pictures, and bind her children captive, it does not prove that I am fitter to live than she - yet according to ethics of nations it does. I have conquered her and she must pay me for my trouble; and her house and all that is left in it belongs to my heirs and successors, forever. That is war!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nellie L. 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