--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am closer to the pacifist side, in that…" description: "\"I am closer to the pacifist side, in that I think that the British response to German aggression, which was to try to starve the Continent into a state..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/400/nicholson-baker-3405_aggression_i-am-closer-to-the-pacifist-side-in-that_1814493.png" --- # I am closer to the pacifist side, in that I think that the… ![“I am closer to the pacifist side, in that I think that the British response to German aggression, which was to try to starve the Continent into a state of revolt and to terrorize German civilians with bombing raids, was part of the total catastrophe.” quote by Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/400/nicholson-baker-3405_aggression_i-am-closer-to-the-pacifist-side-in-that_1814493.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/400/nicholson-baker-3405_aggression_i-am-closer-to-the-pacifist-side-in-that_1814493.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/400/nicholson-baker-3405_aggression_i-am-closer-to-the-pacifist-side-in-that_1814493.png) > “I am closer to the pacifist side, in that I think that the British response to German aggression, which was to try to starve the Continent into a state of revolt and to terrorize German civilians with bombing raids, was part of the total catastrophe.” [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Strategic bombing that targets civilians is morally disastrous and fuels broader catastrophe. **In simple terms:** Targeting civilians causes widespread harm. Key Takeaway Advocate for humane conflict policies. Themes war ethics civilian protection morality Mood reflective serious Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - policy debate - humanitarian aid - education curricula - media analysis Key Concepts political theory human rights military strategy Questions to Reflect On - Is civilian targeting ever justified? - What alternatives exist to protect civilians? A Different Perspective Some argue strategic bombing can shorten wars. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aggression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aggression/) [Bombing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bombing/) [British](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british/) [Catastrophe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catastrophe/) [Civilians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilians/) [Pacifist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pacifist/) [Revolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolt/) [Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [When people want to inspire you to turn against some group of people, they'll often use empathy. When Obama wanted to bomb Syria, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bloom/when-people-want-to-inspire-you-to-turn-against-some-group-of-people/) [Paul Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bloom/) > [I am not a pacifist - I think that violence and self-defence are often morally justified.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-nussbaum/i-am-not-a-pacifist-i-think-that-violence-and-self-defence-are-often/) [Martha Nussbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-nussbaum/) > [I would have fought in WW2, so I wasn't a pacifist in the broader sense. I prefer to be a pacifist, but I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-r-lansdale/i-would-have-fought-in-ww2-so-i-wasn-t-a-pacifist-in-the-broader/) [Joe R. Lansdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-r-lansdale/) > [“There is no evidence that Jesus himself openly advocated violent actions. But he was certainly no pacifist. “Do not think that I have come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/there-is-no-evidence-that-jesus-himself-openly-advocated-violent/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [I'm not a pacifist at all; I think there is a notion of "just war" that can be persuasively argued. I think in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-m-not-a-pacifist-at-all-i-think-there-is-a-notion-of-just-war-that/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I'm not a pacifist. I think the suffering of innocent people can be a catalyst for moral action. But empathy puts too much weight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bloom/i-m-not-a-pacifist-i-think-the-suffering-of-innocent-people-can-be-a/) [Paul Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bloom/) > [Very serious mistakes were made by previous governments, and Greece was ready to be abandoned by its partners and to leave the eurozone, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonis-samaras/very-serious-mistakes-were-made-by-previous-governments-and-greece/) [Antonis Samaras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonis-samaras/) > [Gandhi was such an important figure to the pacifists of the '30s, and he was such an extraordinary embodiment of nonviolence, that I thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/gandhi-was-such-an-important-figure-to-the-pacifists-of-the-30s-and/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [We're not really pacifists, we're nonviolent soldiers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-baez/we-re-not-really-pacifists-we-re-nonviolent-soldiers/) [Joan Baez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-baez/) > [I always have a high regard for the individual and have an insuperable distaste for violence and clubmanship. All these motives made me into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-always-have-a-high-regard-for-the-individual-and-have-an/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“When it comes to fighting evil, the left is almost pacifist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/when-it-comes-to-fighting-evil-the-left-is-almost-pacifist/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [ \[A pacifist is\] the last and least excusable on the list of the enemies of society. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/a-pacifist-is-the-last-and-least-excusable-on-the-list-of-the-enemies/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [I like pacifists and people who have a heavy emotional identification with deathism and war would probably call me a pacifist, but I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/i-like-pacifists-and-people-who-have-a-heavy-emotional-identification/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [I am not a terrorist, but neither am I a pacifist. I am simply a regular guy from the Palestinian street advocating only what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marwan-barghouti/i-am-not-a-terrorist-but-neither-am-i-a-pacifist-i-am-simply-a/) Marwan Barghouti > [In the sixties, during the Vietnam war, when anarchists and pacifists and socialists, Democrats and Republicans, decent-hearted Americans, all recoiled with horror at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/in-the-sixties-during-the-vietnam-war-when-anarchists-and-pacifists/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) ## More by Nicholson Baker > [I did not know that the planning for biological and chemical warfare was so widespread in England, and even in France before France fell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-did-not-know-that-the-planning-for-biological-and-chemical-warfare/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [Just as the people who lived through the Second World War thought different things on different days, I think everybody who goes through that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/just-as-the-people-who-lived-through-the-second-world-war-thought/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [I’ve always thought of myself as shy,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-ve-always-thought-of-myself-as-shy/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [There's something paralyzing about being a writer that you have to escape. I don't want to think of myself as a guy who's written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/there-s-something-paralyzing-about-being-a-writer-that-you-have-to/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [The great thing about novels is that you can be as unshy as you want to be. I'm very polite in person. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/the-great-thing-about-novels-is-that-you-can-be-as-unshy-as-you-want/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [“Why are things beautiful? I don´t know. That´s a good question. Isn´t it pleasing when you ask a question of a person, a teacher,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/why-are-things-beautiful-i-don-t-know-that-s-a-good-question-isn-t-it/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [I'm suspicious of full-replacement programs - that is, pronouncements that one way of doing something will entirely supplant another, and that in fact we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-m-suspicious-of-full-replacement-programs-that-is-pronouncements/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [Printed books usually outlive bookstores and the publishers who brought them out. They sit around, demanding nothing, for decades. That's one of their nicest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/printed-books-usually-outlive-bookstores-and-the-publishers-who/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [“The neurons that do expire are the ones that made imitation possible. When you are capable of skillful imitation, the sweep of choices before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/the-neurons-that-do-expire-are-the-ones-that-made-imitation-possible/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [What's somewhat puzzling is that Churchill himself knew what the reaction would be to any sort of aerial attack on cities, because in 1938…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/what-s-somewhat-puzzling-is-that-churchill-himself-knew-what-the/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [Shoes are the first adult machines we are given to master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/shoes-are-the-first-adult-machines-we-are-given-to-master/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [As soon as you start doing that - changing things - it seems self-evident to me that you've entered the world of make-believe. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/as-soon-as-you-start-doing-that-changing-things-it-seems-self-evident/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [I don't do all that well in the writerly world. I'm happier being outside the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-don-t-do-all-that-well-in-the-writerly-world-i-m-happier-being/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [E.B. White's essays are the best things I've read about Maine - especially the one in which he's not sure if he can go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/e-b-white-s-essays-are-the-best-things-i-ve-read-about-maine/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [“The fact that we had independently decided to sweep our apartments on that Sunday afternoon after spending the weekend together, I took as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/the-fact-that-we-had-independently-decided-to-sweep-our-apartments-on/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) [Explore all 131 Nicholson Baker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) ## More Aggression quotes > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [I used to fight with hate. There's been a lot of aggression in my past growing up and stuff. That's because I was hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-namajunas/i-used-to-fight-with-hate-there-s-been-a-lot-of-aggression-in-my-past/) [Rose Namajunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-namajunas/) > [We have nothing in our history or position to invite aggression; we have everything to beckon us to the cultivation of relations of peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-have-nothing-in-our-history-or-position-to-invite-aggression-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I take up the standpoint that the tendency to aggression is an innate, independent, instinctual disposition in man, and I come back now to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/i-take-up-the-standpoint-that-the-tendency-to-aggression-is-an-innate/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Boxing can be so important to young people, it keeps you off the street and you can channel your energy and aggression in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-benn/boxing-can-be-so-important-to-young-people-it-keeps-you-off-the/) [Nigel Benn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-benn/) > [“That which is of great value cannot be attained through aggression. You will be able to find the mystery of life only if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/that-which-is-of-great-value-cannot-be-attained-through-aggression/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression, whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/a-society-that-presumes-a-norm-of-violence-and-celebrates-aggression/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [I can remember watching MTV Cribs - these amazing houses - and looking around my house where there was no carpet on the floors.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bugzy-malone/i-can-remember-watching-mtv-cribs-these-amazing-houses-and-looking/) [Bugzy Malone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bugzy-malone/) > [Nationalism, on my opinion, is nothing more than an idealistic rationalization for militarism and aggression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/nationalism-on-my-opinion-is-nothing-more-than-an-idealistic/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I really like battle ropes. They're so versatile; you can get a terrific workout doing a ton of different exercises with them. My clients…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-peterson/i-really-like-battle-ropes-they-re-so-versatile-you-can-get-a/) [Gunnar Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-peterson/) > [ Now they \[the Powers\] have started the aggression, and the extinction of our nation is imminent. If we just fold our arms and yield… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/empress-dowager-cixi/now-they-the-powers-have-started-the-aggression-and-the-extinction-of/) Empress Dowager Cixi > [I'm not going to appeal to violence or aggression - of course not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexei-navalny/i-m-not-going-to-appeal-to-violence-or-aggression-of-course-not/) [Alexei Navalny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexei-navalny/) > [This is passive-aggression in action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/this-is-passive-aggression-in-action/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [When a child hits a child, we call it aggression. When a child hits an adult, we call it hostility. When an adult hits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-a-child-hits-a-child-we-call-it-aggression-when-a-child-hits-an/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Major international interventions are doomed unless the US is directly or indirectly involved. But if American politicians, officials and servicemen are to be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/major-international-interventions-are-doomed-unless-the-us-is/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) [Browse all 860 Aggression quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aggression/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am closer to the pacifist side, in that I think that the British response to German aggression, which was to try to starve the Continent into a state of revolt and to terrorize German civilians with bombing raids, was part of the total catastrophe.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nicholson Baker" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-am-closer-to-the-pacifist-side-in-that-i-think-that-the-british/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aggression" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-am-closer-to-the-pacifist-side-in-that-i-think-that-the-british/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/400/nicholson-baker-3405_aggression_i-am-closer-to-the-pacifist-side-in-that_1814493.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/400/nicholson-baker-3405_aggression_i-am-closer-to-the-pacifist-side-in-that_1814493.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/400/nicholson-baker-3405_aggression_i-am-closer-to-the-pacifist-side-in-that_1814493.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am closer to the pacifist side, in that I think that the British response to German aggression, which was…” — Nicholson Baker", "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": "Nicholson Baker", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I am closer to the pacifist...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-am-closer-to-the-pacifist-side-in-that-i-think-that-the-british/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-am-closer-to-the-pacifist-side-in-that-i-think-that-the-british/#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 } } ] } ```