--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was told there would be riots in the…" description: "\"I was told there would be riots in the streets, but there were no riots.\" — Paddy Ashdown" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a91/paddy-ashdown-17120_riots_i-was-told-there-would-be-riots-in-the-s_1203072.png" --- # I was told there would be riots in the streets, but there… ![“I was told there would be riots in the streets, but there were no riots.” quote by Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a91/paddy-ashdown-17120_riots_i-was-told-there-would-be-riots-in-the-s_1203072.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a91/paddy-ashdown-17120_riots_i-was-told-there-would-be-riots-in-the-s_1203072.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a91/paddy-ashdown-17120_riots_i-was-told-there-would-be-riots-in-the-s_1203072.png) > “I was told there would be riots in the streets, but there were no riots.” [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Predictions of chaos can be false; reality may be calmer than expected. **In simple terms:** Predictions can be wrong; reality may be calm. Key Takeaway Question assumptions before acting. Themes prediction reality surprise Mood skeptical reflective Type analytical cautionary When to use this quote - political forecasts - public unrest - media hype - crisis management Key Concepts critical thinking risk assessment Questions to Reflect On - What evidence should be examined before expecting unrest? - How do we prepare for unexpected calm? A Different Perspective Dismissal of warnings can be dangerous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Riots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/riots/) [Streets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streets/) ## Related quotes > [If poor people knew how rich rich people are, there would be riots in the streets,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-rock/if-poor-people-knew-how-rich-rich-people-are-there-would-be-riots-in/) [Chris Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-rock/) > [I grew up in the American South and came of age in the 1960s, an incredibly turbulent time. It was as if the seams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-grew-up-in-the-american-south-and-came-of-age-in-the-1960s-an/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [For example, it was this pack of wolves that sparked off the Rodney King affair a few years ago in Los Angeles. Let us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-virilio/for-example-it-was-this-pack-of-wolves-that-sparked-off-the-rodney/) [Paul Virilio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-virilio/) > [When the riots happened in L.A., they didn't go to Beverly Hills to trash Rodeo Drive. They trashed their own neighborhoods. It's one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-l-jackson/when-the-riots-happened-in-l-a-they-didn-t-go-to-beverly-hills-to/) [Samuel L. Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-l-jackson/) > [I turned atheist in the '90s when India went through troubled times - communal riots, bomb blasts... Mumbai, where I live, was badly affected.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amish-tripathi/i-turned-atheist-in-the-90s-when-india-went-through-troubled-times/) [Amish Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amish-tripathi/) > [“You would have realized that it wasn't Mumtaz, a muslim, a friend of yours, but a human being you had killed. I mean, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saadat-hasan-manto/you-would-have-realized-that-it-wasn-t-mumtaz-a-muslim-a-friend-of/) [Saadat Hasan Manto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saadat-hasan-manto/) > [Eviction riots erupted during the Depression, though the number of poor families who faced eviction each year was a fraction of what it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/eviction-riots-erupted-during-the-depression-though-the-number-of/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [We have the riots we deserve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-badiou/we-have-the-riots-we-deserve/) [Alain Badiou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-badiou/) > [The 2011 riots in England, which left five dead and caused more than $300 million in property damage, were fueled by a generation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-barr/the-2011-riots-in-england-which-left-five-dead-and-caused-more-than/) [Bob Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-barr/) > [I was doing stand up comedy when I was 11, that's how I got started; not because I wanted to do comedy, but because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shia-labeouf/i-was-doing-stand-up-comedy-when-i-was-11-that-s-how-i-got-started/) [Shia LaBeouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shia-labeouf/) > [“South of Larissa the landscape began to change. Jude watched an irrigation machine like a giant stick insect creeping over a field, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-alkazraji/south-of-larissa-the-landscape-began-to-change-jude-watched-an/) [Paul Alkazraji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-alkazraji/) > [I don't think the riots derailed the civil rights movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-louis-gates/i-don-t-think-the-riots-derailed-the-civil-rights-movement/) [Henry Louis Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-louis-gates/) > [You also had in Detroit that summer, an early variation of Ferguson. A black prostitute was shot in the back by police. And all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-maraniss/you-also-had-in-detroit-that-summer-an-early-variation-of-ferguson-a/) [David Maraniss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-maraniss/) > [The issue of civil rights was too much for the establishment to handle. One of the chapters of history that's least studied by historians…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hayden/the-issue-of-civil-rights-was-too-much-for-the-establishment-to/) [Tom Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hayden/) > [“To riot or not to riot, that is the question.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/to-riot-or-not-to-riot-that-is-the-question/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) ## More by Paddy Ashdown > [I am formally accountable to the steering board of the PIC, and I meet with nine ambassadors from the PIC every week. I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/i-am-formally-accountable-to-the-steering-board-of-the-pic-and-i-meet/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [We have invented a new human right here - the right to return home after a war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/we-have-invented-a-new-human-right-here-the-right-to-return-home/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [It works both ways: there are victims of tragedy who come to me who have experienced grief of such magnitude that they cannot reconcile.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/it-works-both-ways-there-are-victims-of-tragedy-who-come-to-me-who/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [I am here because I think it was a terrible sin of the west to allow those years of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/i-am-here-because-i-think-it-was-a-terrible-sin-of-the-west-to-allow/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [I don't think Bosnia is ready for reconciliation, but I do think it is ready for truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/i-don-t-think-bosnia-is-ready-for-reconciliation-but-i-do-think-it-is/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [The multinational corporations now developing budgets often bigger than medium-sized countries — these live in a global space which is largely unregulated, not subject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/the-multinational-corporations-now-developing-budgets-often-bigger/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [Now we are intimately locked together. You get swine flu in Mexico; it’s a problem for Charles de Gaulle Airport 24 hours later. Lehman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/now-we-are-intimately-locked-together-you-get-swine-flu-in-mexico-it/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [Politics is about putting yourself in a state of grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/politics-is-about-putting-yourself-in-a-state-of-grace/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [I can create institutions, but I can't rewrite the chips in people's heads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/i-can-create-institutions-but-i-can-t-rewrite-the-chips-in-people-s/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [One of the great barriers to peace in the Middle East is that both sides, both Israel and the Palestinians, do not understand that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/one-of-the-great-barriers-to-peace-in-the-middle-east-is-that-both/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [It's not my job to be popular. I'm goal-driven; my job is to get results.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/it-s-not-my-job-to-be-popular-i-m-goal-driven-my-job-is-to-get-results/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [We who came here saw what was happening. This was far more than a war in a faraway place. This was a moral imperative,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/we-who-came-here-saw-what-was-happening-this-was-far-more-than-a-war/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [We have to make their livelihoods viable, get them the proper prices for their produce, try and make them stay rather than sell their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/we-have-to-make-their-livelihoods-viable-get-them-the-proper-prices/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [My second job has been to try to use my power to create institutions of a modern state that could enter the European Union,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/my-second-job-has-been-to-try-to-use-my-power-to-create-institutions/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [Coalition will come sooner or later, I'm certain of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/coalition-will-come-sooner-or-later-i-m-certain-of-that/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) [Explore all 38 Paddy Ashdown quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) ## More Riots quotes > [“To riot or not to riot, that is the question.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/to-riot-or-not-to-riot-that-is-the-question/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [The issue of civil rights was too much for the establishment to handle. One of the chapters of history that's least studied by historians…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hayden/the-issue-of-civil-rights-was-too-much-for-the-establishment-to/) [Tom Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hayden/) > [You also had in Detroit that summer, an early variation of Ferguson. A black prostitute was shot in the back by police. And all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-maraniss/you-also-had-in-detroit-that-summer-an-early-variation-of-ferguson-a/) [David Maraniss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-maraniss/) > [I don't think the riots derailed the civil rights movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-louis-gates/i-don-t-think-the-riots-derailed-the-civil-rights-movement/) [Henry Louis Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-louis-gates/) > [“South of Larissa the landscape began to change. Jude watched an irrigation machine like a giant stick insect creeping over a field, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-alkazraji/south-of-larissa-the-landscape-began-to-change-jude-watched-an/) [Paul Alkazraji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-alkazraji/) > [I was doing stand up comedy when I was 11, that's how I got started; not because I wanted to do comedy, but because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shia-labeouf/i-was-doing-stand-up-comedy-when-i-was-11-that-s-how-i-got-started/) [Shia LaBeouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shia-labeouf/) > [The 2011 riots in England, which left five dead and caused more than $300 million in property damage, were fueled by a generation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-barr/the-2011-riots-in-england-which-left-five-dead-and-caused-more-than/) [Bob Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-barr/) > [We have the riots we deserve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-badiou/we-have-the-riots-we-deserve/) [Alain Badiou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-badiou/) > [Eviction riots erupted during the Depression, though the number of poor families who faced eviction each year was a fraction of what it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/eviction-riots-erupted-during-the-depression-though-the-number-of/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [“You would have realized that it wasn't Mumtaz, a muslim, a friend of yours, but a human being you had killed. I mean, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saadat-hasan-manto/you-would-have-realized-that-it-wasn-t-mumtaz-a-muslim-a-friend-of/) [Saadat Hasan Manto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saadat-hasan-manto/) > [I turned atheist in the '90s when India went through troubled times - communal riots, bomb blasts... Mumbai, where I live, was badly affected.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amish-tripathi/i-turned-atheist-in-the-90s-when-india-went-through-troubled-times/) [Amish Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amish-tripathi/) > [When the riots happened in L.A., they didn't go to Beverly Hills to trash Rodeo Drive. They trashed their own neighborhoods. It's one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-l-jackson/when-the-riots-happened-in-l-a-they-didn-t-go-to-beverly-hills-to/) [Samuel L. Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-l-jackson/) > [For example, it was this pack of wolves that sparked off the Rodney King affair a few years ago in Los Angeles. Let us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-virilio/for-example-it-was-this-pack-of-wolves-that-sparked-off-the-rodney/) [Paul Virilio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-virilio/) > [I grew up in the American South and came of age in the 1960s, an incredibly turbulent time. It was as if the seams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-grew-up-in-the-american-south-and-came-of-age-in-the-1960s-an/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [The communal riots ignorance of the people and the result of political ambition are the leaders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/the-communal-riots-ignorance-of-the-people-and-the-result-of/) Mak\_786 [Browse all 117 Riots quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/riots/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was told there would be riots in the streets, but there were no riots.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paddy Ashdown" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/i-was-told-there-would-be-riots-in-the-streets-but-there-were-no-riots/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Riots" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/i-was-told-there-would-be-riots-in-the-streets-but-there-were-no-riots/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a91/paddy-ashdown-17120_riots_i-was-told-there-would-be-riots-in-the-s_1203072.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a91/paddy-ashdown-17120_riots_i-was-told-there-would-be-riots-in-the-s_1203072.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a91/paddy-ashdown-17120_riots_i-was-told-there-would-be-riots-in-the-s_1203072.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was told there would be riots in the streets, but there were no riots.” — Paddy Ashdown", "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": "Paddy Ashdown", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I was told there would be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/i-was-told-there-would-be-riots-in-the-streets-but-there-were-no-riots/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/i-was-told-there-would-be-riots-in-the-streets-but-there-were-no-riots/#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 } } ] } ```