--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We believed that it was most desirable…" description: "\"“We believed that it was most desirable that the North should win, we believed in the principle that the Union is indissoluable, we, or many of us at l..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c3/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2-207_american-civil-war_we-believed-that-it-was-most-desirable-t_910293.jpg" --- # We believed that it was most desirable that the North… ![“We believed that it was most desirable that the North should win, we believed in the principle that the Union is indissoluable, we, or many of us at least, also believed that the conflict was inevitable, and that slavery had lasted long enough. But we equally believed that those who stood against…” quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c3/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2-207_american-civil-war_we-believed-that-it-was-most-desirable-t_910293.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c3/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2-207_american-civil-war_we-believed-that-it-was-most-desirable-t_910293.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c3/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2-207_american-civil-war_we-believed-that-it-was-most-desirable-t_910293.jpg) > ““We believed that it was most desirable that the North should win, we believed in the principle that the Union is indissoluable, we, or many of us at least, also believed that the conflict was inevitable, and that slavery had lasted long enough. But we equally believed that those who stood against us held just as sacred conviction that were the opposite of ours, and we respected them as every men with a heart must respect those who give all for their belief.”” [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even adversaries share sacred convictions; respect for their dedication is essential despite opposing views. **In simple terms:** Respect opponents’ convictions. Key Takeaway Respect those with opposing beliefs. Themes conflict respect conviction civil discourse Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - political debate - legal discussions - interfaith dialogue - team disagreements Key Concepts ethical pluralism moral courage Questions to Reflect On - How can you honor an opponent’s conviction? - When is respect insufficient? A Different Perspective Respect may not change outcomes; it can be emotionally taxing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American civil war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-civil-war/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [The Ayodhya judgment will work as a catalyst to maintain peace and unity in the country. This judgment has given a respect to belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/the-ayodhya-judgment-will-work-as-a-catalyst-to-maintain-peace-and/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [“I have always believed in the principle that immediate survival is more important than long-term survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-mcclelland/i-have-always-believed-in-the-principle-that-immediate-survival-is/) Jack McClelland > [“She believed in the principle of enoughness." from "About Alice”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-trillin/she-believed-in-the-principle-of-enoughness-from-about-alice/) [Calvin Trillin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-trillin/) > [I certainly respect the belief of the Hobby Lobby owners. On the other hand, they have no constitutional right to foist that belief on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/i-certainly-respect-the-belief-of-the-hobby-lobby-owners-on-the-other/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [“We have shared the incommunicable experience of war, we have felt, we still feel, the passion of life to its top. In our youth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/we-have-shared-the-incommunicable-experience-of-war-we-have-felt-we/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/if-i-could-save-the-union-without-freeing-any-slave-i-would-do-it/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The triumph of the Confederacy... would be a victory for the powers of evil which would give courage to the enemies of progress and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-triumph-of-the-confederacy-would-be-a-victory-for-the-powers-of/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/my-paramount-object-in-this-struggle-is-to-save-the-union-and-is-not/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“For my part I consider the central idea pervading this struggle is the necessity that is upon us of proving that popular government is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/for-my-part-i-consider-the-central-idea-pervading-this-struggle-is/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [Its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-h-stephens/its-foundations-are-laid-its-cornerstone-rests-upon-the-great-truth/) [Alexander H. Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-h-stephens/) > [What began as a bitter dispute over Union and States' Rights, ended as a struggle over the meaning of freedom in America. At Gettysburg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/what-began-as-a-bitter-dispute-over-union-and-states-rights-ended-as/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [The 1860 election became a referendum on the southern way of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/the-1860-election-became-a-referendum-on-the-southern-way-of-life/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-all-declare-for-liberty-but-in-using-the-same-word-we-do-not-all/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Strange, (is it not?) that battles, martyrs, blood, even assassination should so condense - perhaps only really lastingly condense - a Nationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/strange-is-it-not-that-battles-martyrs-blood-even-assassination/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [It cost about 75 cents to kill a man in Ceasar's time. The price rose to about $3,000 per man during the Napoleonic wars;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer-bone/it-cost-about-75-cents-to-kill-a-man-in-ceasar-s-time-the-price-rose/) Homer Bone ## More by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr > [“Every idea is an incitement. It offers itself for belief and if believed it is acted on unless some other belief outweighs it or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/every-idea-is-an-incitement-it-offers-itself-for-belief-and-if/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/the-right-to-swing-my-fist-ends-where-the-other-man-s-nose-begins/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [“We are very quiet there, but it is the quiet of a storm centre. .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/we-are-very-quiet-there-but-it-is-the-quiet-of-a-storm-centre/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [“A child's education should begin at least 100 years before he was born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/a-child-s-education-should-begin-at-least-100-years-before-he-was-born/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [Man's mind, stretched by a new idea, never goes back to its original dimensions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/man-s-mind-stretched-by-a-new-idea-never-goes-back-to-its-original/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [“Academic life is but half life it is a withdrawal from the fight to utter smart things that cost you nothing except the thinking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/academic-life-is-but-half-life-it-is-a-withdrawal-from-the-fight-to/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [You commit a sin of omission if you do not utilize all the power that is within you. All men have claims on man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/you-commit-a-sin-of-omission-if-you-do-not-utilize-all-the-power-that/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [“Every year, if not every day, we have to wager our salvation upon some prophecy based upon imperfect knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/every-year-if-not-every-day-we-have-to-wager-our-salvation-upon-some/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [“A man who called everyone a damn fool is like a man who damns the weather. He only shows that he is not adapted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/a-man-who-called-everyone-a-damn-fool-is-like-a-man-who-damns-the/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [“We have shared the incommunicable experience of war, we have felt, we still feel, the passion of life to its top. In our youth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/we-have-shared-the-incommunicable-experience-of-war-we-have-felt-we/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [“The rational study of law is still to a large extent the study of history. History must be a part of the study, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/the-rational-study-of-law-is-still-to-a-large-extent-the-study-of/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/take-a-music-bath-once-or-twice-a-week-for-a-few-seasons-and-you-will/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [To be seventy years young is sometimes for more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/to-be-seventy-years-young-is-sometimes-for-more-cheerful-and-hopeful/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [“But, nevertheless, the generation that carried on the war has been set apart by its experience. Through our great good fortune, in our youth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/but-nevertheless-the-generation-that-carried-on-the-war-has-been-set/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [I have no respect for the passion of equality, which seems to me merely idealizing envy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/i-have-no-respect-for-the-passion-of-equality-which-seems-to-me/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) [Explore all 30 Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) ## More American civil war quotes > [It cost about 75 cents to kill a man in Ceasar's time. The price rose to about $3,000 per man during the Napoleonic wars;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer-bone/it-cost-about-75-cents-to-kill-a-man-in-ceasar-s-time-the-price-rose/) Homer Bone > [Strange, (is it not?) that battles, martyrs, blood, even assassination should so condense - perhaps only really lastingly condense - a Nationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/strange-is-it-not-that-battles-martyrs-blood-even-assassination/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-all-declare-for-liberty-but-in-using-the-same-word-we-do-not-all/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The 1860 election became a referendum on the southern way of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/the-1860-election-became-a-referendum-on-the-southern-way-of-life/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [What began as a bitter dispute over Union and States' Rights, ended as a struggle over the meaning of freedom in America. At Gettysburg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/what-began-as-a-bitter-dispute-over-union-and-states-rights-ended-as/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [Its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-h-stephens/its-foundations-are-laid-its-cornerstone-rests-upon-the-great-truth/) [Alexander H. Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-h-stephens/) > [“For my part I consider the central idea pervading this struggle is the necessity that is upon us of proving that popular government is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/for-my-part-i-consider-the-central-idea-pervading-this-struggle-is/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/my-paramount-object-in-this-struggle-is-to-save-the-union-and-is-not/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The triumph of the Confederacy... would be a victory for the powers of evil which would give courage to the enemies of progress and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-triumph-of-the-confederacy-would-be-a-victory-for-the-powers-of/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/if-i-could-save-the-union-without-freeing-any-slave-i-would-do-it/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“Across the river he could see the burnt and crushed buildings of Fredericksburg, the debris piled along the streets, the scattered ruins of people's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-shaara/across-the-river-he-could-see-the-burnt-and-crushed-buildings-of/) [Jeff Shaara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-shaara/) > [Grant stood by me when I was crazy...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-tecumseh-sherman/grant-stood-by-me-when-i-was-crazy/) [William Tecumseh Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-tecumseh-sherman/) > [You people speak so lightly of war; you don't know what you're talking about. War is a terrible thing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-tecumseh-sherman/you-people-speak-so-lightly-of-war-you-don-t-know-what-you-re-talking/) [William Tecumseh Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-tecumseh-sherman/) > [We all declare for liberty, but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-all-declare-for-liberty-but-in-using-the-same-word-we-do-not-all-2/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The Civil War was fought in 10,000 places, from Valverde, New Mexico, and Tullahoma, Tennessee, to St. Albans, Vermont, and Fernandina on the Florida…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/the-civil-war-was-fought-in-10-000-places-from-valverde-new-mexico/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) [Browse all 176 American civil war quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-civil-war/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We believed that it was most desirable that the North should win, we believed in the principle that the Union is indissoluable, we, or many of us at least, also believed that the conflict was inevitable, and that slavery had lasted long enough. 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