--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We must understand the factors that cause…" description: "\"We must understand the factors that cause fragility, violence, and conflict in order to develop solutions that will meaningfully reduce instability at ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a0/peter-maurer-8286_conflict_we-must-understand-the-factors-that-caus_1282698.jpg" --- # We must understand the factors that cause fragility… ![“We must understand the factors that cause fragility, violence, and conflict in order to develop solutions that will meaningfully reduce instability at its roots rather than merely addressing the symptoms.” quote by Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a0/peter-maurer-8286_conflict_we-must-understand-the-factors-that-caus_1282698.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a0/peter-maurer-8286_conflict_we-must-understand-the-factors-that-caus_1282698.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a0/peter-maurer-8286_conflict_we-must-understand-the-factors-that-caus_1282698.jpg) > “We must understand the factors that cause fragility, violence, and conflict in order to develop solutions that will meaningfully reduce instability at its roots rather than merely addressing the symptoms.” [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. To truly reduce instability we must study the underlying causes of fragility, violence and conflict, not just treat their visible effects. **In simple terms:** Address root causes, not just symptoms. Key Takeaway Focus on deep analysis before action. Themes security conflict resolution policy development Mood concerned determined Type analytical policy‑oriented When to use this quote - peacebuilding programs - government reform - community resilience initiatives - economic development plans Key Concepts systems thinking causal analysis structural violence Questions to Reflect On - What underlying factors are most overlooked in current policies? - How can we balance immediate relief with long‑term solutions? A Different Perspective Addressing symptoms can provide short‑term relief but may ignore deeper drivers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conflict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict/) [Fragility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fragility/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Roots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roots/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [Fragility, violence, and conflict are complex. Fragility is influenced by a wide set of factors, many of which are deeply entrenched, such as high…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/fragility-violence-and-conflict-are-complex-fragility-is-influenced/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [Local businesses and communities must be included from the very start in developing solutions to fragility, violence, and conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/local-businesses-and-communities-must-be-included-from-the-very-start/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [“The greater the difficulty of the change, the greater the need for enchantment. Factors that cause friction include expense, risk, and “politics.” If a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-kawasaki/the-greater-the-difficulty-of-the-change-the-greater-the-need-for/) [Guy Kawasaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-kawasaki/) > [Cities tend to be representations of societies: diversity and inequality find their extremes in urban settings. Yet, when war is added onto pre-existing inequalities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/cities-tend-to-be-representations-of-societies-diversity-and/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [I am completely tied up with softness, fragility, and the problems of a feminine world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-bassman/i-am-completely-tied-up-with-softness-fragility-and-the-problems-of-a/) [Lillian Bassman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-bassman/) > [There is a strand of self-absorption and fragility running through this generation; all too ready to cry 'victim' at the first hint of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-fox/there-is-a-strand-of-self-absorption-and-fragility-running-through/) [Claire Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-fox/) > [Face, to me, is a metaphor of sadness. And I want to share this sadness. I'm not really interested whether it's an Indian face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-gonzalez/face-to-me-is-a-metaphor-of-sadness-and-i-want-to-share-this-sadness/) [Luis Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-gonzalez/) > [Not childhood alone, but the young man till thirty, never feels practically that he is mortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/not-childhood-alone-but-the-young-man-till-thirty-never-feels/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Each person is sacred, no matter what his or her culture, religion, handicap, or fragility. Each person is created in God’s image; each one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-vanier/each-person-is-sacred-no-matter-what-his-or-her-culture-religion/) [Jean Vanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-vanier/) > [In 1966 Rolf Edberg wrote "This is mankind's home", "in the narrow borderland between the deathly heat beneath our feet and the coldness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-wallstrom/in-1966-rolf-edberg-wrote-this-is-mankind-s-home-in-the-narrow/) [Margot Wallstrom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-wallstrom/) > [The scariest time of my life was when I knew my Nana was dying. It was horrible, as there's nothing I could do to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-sanderson/the-scariest-time-of-my-life-was-when-i-knew-my-nana-was-dying-it-was/) [Nikki Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-sanderson/) > [“Those mornings were fragile things — like flowers blooming in the middle of a battlefield. She hadn’t realized then that the soil beneath them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-sn/those-mornings-were-fragile-things-like-flowers-blooming-in-the/) Maggie Sn > [“Our limited data force a sense of historical fragility: even as I nurture interpretation, I continually run the risk of creating it in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-s-smith/our-limited-data-force-a-sense-of-historical-fragility-even-as-i/) Mark S. Smith > [“Two people who live their lives alone in rooms doing strange, gentle things can sometimes be together in the middle of a dangerous storm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-hunt/two-people-who-live-their-lives-alone-in-rooms-doing-strange-gentle/) [Samantha Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-hunt/) > [I feel like the future is unwritten. So many of the things that we write now haven't been about educating people on the environment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/i-feel-like-the-future-is-unwritten-so-many-of-the-things-that-we/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) ## More by Peter Maurer > [It's one thing if a politician in a small country says a little bit of torturing is good to do. There is a qualitative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/it-s-one-thing-if-a-politician-in-a-small-country-says-a-little-bit/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [The ICRC did not see Nazi Germany for what it was. Instead, the organization maintained the illusion that the Third Reich was a 'regular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/the-icrc-did-not-see-nazi-germany-for-what-it-was-instead-the/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [In our fibre-optic world of tweets and tablets, we are more conscious of the world around us. The technicolour violence and humanitarian abuses of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/in-our-fibre-optic-world-of-tweets-and-tablets-we-are-more-conscious/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [There is a clear business case for building the resilience and capacity of local communities, businesses, and institutions because a peaceful, educated, and productive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/there-is-a-clear-business-case-for-building-the-resilience-and/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [Each day that passes without kids being able to go to school is an enormous burden on the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/each-day-that-passes-without-kids-being-able-to-go-to-school-is-an/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [Until the last nuclear weapon is eliminated, more must also be done to reduce the risk of a detonation. Nuclear-armed states should reduce the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/until-the-last-nuclear-weapon-is-eliminated-more-must-also-be-done-to/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [The International Committee of the Red Cross visits roughly half a million detainees in nearly 100 countries each year. It's our job to try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/the-international-committee-of-the-red-cross-visits-roughly-half-a/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [You can't expect humanitarian and development agencies to rebuild Syria. There is not enough money. There is not enough capacity. There are not enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/you-can-t-expect-humanitarian-and-development-agencies-to-rebuild/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [Trust into leadership evaporates with communities when they see that their problems are not adequately addressed, neither at the national level nor at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/trust-into-leadership-evaporates-with-communities-when-they-see-that/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [While the nature of warfare is changing and wars are moving into cities, they are also becoming longer and their consequences more impactful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/while-the-nature-of-warfare-is-changing-and-wars-are-moving-into/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [Concrete steps are needed to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in military plans, doctrines, and policies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/concrete-steps-are-needed-to-reduce-the-role-of-nuclear-weapons-in/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [We believe that settlement expansion policies pursued in recent decades by successive Israeli governments have facilitated the process of de-facto annexation. It has complicated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/we-believe-that-settlement-expansion-policies-pursued-in-recent/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [Businesses operating in fragile or conflict-affected environments bear a responsibility to, at the very minimum, do no harm and avoid fuelling conflict or reinforcing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/businesses-operating-in-fragile-or-conflict-affected-environments/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [We cannot guarantee that a humanitarian catastrophe of the extent of the Holocaust will not happen again. On the contrary, we witness a catalogue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/we-cannot-guarantee-that-a-humanitarian-catastrophe-of-the-extent-of/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [Humanitarian assistance, once conceived as a short-term relief effort, is increasingly the only substitute for long-term development work in protracted armed conflicts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/humanitarian-assistance-once-conceived-as-a-short-term-relief-effort/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) [Explore all 82 Peter Maurer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) ## More Conflict quotes > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The U.S.-Mexican border es un herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [There is a conflict in the Middle East between two entities, and they're both right, each in their own way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reuven-rivlin/there-is-a-conflict-in-the-middle-east-between-two-entities-and-they/) [Reuven Rivlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reuven-rivlin/) > [Conflict isn't negative, it just is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-crum/conflict-isn-t-negative-it-just-is/) [Thomas Crum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-crum/) > [I have lived in countries that were coming out of conflict: Ireland, South Africa, the Czech republic. People there are overflowing with energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-have-lived-in-countries-that-were-coming-out-of-conflict-ireland/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [Africa, being the major target of colonial plunder, therefore becomes a major source of conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-horne/africa-being-the-major-target-of-colonial-plunder-therefore-becomes-a/) [Gerald Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-horne/) > [All drama is conflict. Without conflict, there is no action. Without action, there is no character. Without character, there is no story. And without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd-field/all-drama-is-conflict-without-conflict-there-is-no-action-without/) [Syd Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd-field/) > [The irrepressible conflict propounded by abolitionism has produced now its legitimate fruits - disunion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-irrepressible-conflict-propounded-by-abolitionism-has-produced/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“These are all good things, I said. But no one knows where your country is or who you are. You don't have a familiar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/these-are-all-good-things-i-said-but-no-one-knows-where-your-country/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [I understand the formula that producers hire directors and directors are hired to direct and actors are hired to act. I don't have any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-trejo/i-understand-the-formula-that-producers-hire-directors-and-directors/) [Danny Trejo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-trejo/) > [“While there is battle and hatred men have eyes for nothing save the fact that the enemy is the cause of all the troubles;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/while-there-is-battle-and-hatred-men-have-eyes-for-nothing-save-the/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [UN peacekeeping operations are now increasingly complex and multi-dimensional, going beyond monitoring a ceasefire to actually bringing failed States back to life, often after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/un-peacekeeping-operations-are-now-increasingly-complex-and-multi/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [All men have an instinct for conflict: at least, all healthy men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/all-men-have-an-instinct-for-conflict-at-least-all-healthy-men/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [I didnt like the Survivor shows because of the mean-spirited aspect, and women certainly were part of whatever conflict they would create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lawrence/i-didnt-like-the-survivor-shows-because-of-the-mean-spirited-aspect/) [Sharon Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lawrence/) > [“How we traverse the space between us when conflict arises has a profound effect on the health and longevity of our relationships.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/how-we-traverse-the-space-between-us-when-conflict-arises-has-a/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) [Browse all 3,969 Conflict quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We must understand the factors that cause fragility, violence, and conflict in order to develop solutions that will meaningfully reduce instability at its roots rather than merely addressing the symptoms.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter Maurer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/we-must-understand-the-factors-that-cause-fragility-violence-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conflict" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/we-must-understand-the-factors-that-cause-fragility-violence-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a0/peter-maurer-8286_conflict_we-must-understand-the-factors-that-caus_1282698.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a0/peter-maurer-8286_conflict_we-must-understand-the-factors-that-caus_1282698.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a0/peter-maurer-8286_conflict_we-must-understand-the-factors-that-caus_1282698.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We must understand the factors that cause fragility, violence, and conflict in order to develop solutions…” — Peter Maurer", "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": "Peter Maurer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We must understand the factors that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/we-must-understand-the-factors-that-cause-fragility-violence-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/we-must-understand-the-factors-that-cause-fragility-violence-and/#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 } } ] } ```