--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Afghans excel at fighting Afghans. This…" description: "\"Afghans excel at fighting Afghans. This is what Afghans do, even when they are not being invaded by foreign powers. They fight each other, tribe agains..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75d/phyllis-chesler-16740_afghans_afghans-excel-at-fighting-afghans-this-i_2542684.png" --- # Afghans excel at fighting Afghans. This is what Afghans… ![“Afghans excel at fighting Afghans. This is what Afghans do, even when they are not being invaded by foreign powers. They fight each other, tribe against tribe, brother against brother, half-brother against half-brother, cousin against cousin, uncle against nephew, father against son.” quote by Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75d/phyllis-chesler-16740_afghans_afghans-excel-at-fighting-afghans-this-i_2542684.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75d/phyllis-chesler-16740_afghans_afghans-excel-at-fighting-afghans-this-i_2542684.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75d/phyllis-chesler-16740_afghans_afghans-excel-at-fighting-afghans-this-i_2542684.png) > “Afghans excel at fighting Afghans. This is what Afghans do, even when they are not being invaded by foreign powers. They fight each other, tribe against tribe, brother against brother, half-brother against half-brother, cousin against cousin, uncle against nephew, father against son.” [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Afghans perpetuate internal conflict, fighting each other despite external invasions. **In simple terms:** Afghans fight each other even without foreign invasion. Key Takeaway Recognize the complexity of internal tribal conflicts. Themes conflict culture identity politics Mood critical somber Type political social When to use this quote - community building - peace negotiations - education programs - media representation Key Concepts tribalism historical grievances social cohesion Questions to Reflect On - Why do internal divisions persist? - What steps can foster unity? A Different Perspective External narratives may oversimplify the causes of violence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Afghans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afghans/) [Brother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brother/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Middle east](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-east/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Son](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/son/) [Tribes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tribes/) ## Related quotes > [ Our \[Afghanistan\] main problem is education. Over 90 percent of our population is uneducated. So what can you expect? The terrorists come from Syria,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/najibullah-quraishi/our-afghanistan-main-problem-is-education-over-90-percent-of-our/) [Najibullah Quraishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/najibullah-quraishi/) > [The Afghans themselves say that if you put two Afghans in a room, you get three factions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/the-afghans-themselves-say-that-if-you-put-two-afghans-in-a-room-you/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Undoubtedly the Afghans must be, by our standards, the best-looking people in the world. They have everything; height, proportions, carriage, features and complexion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/undoubtedly-the-afghans-must-be-by-our-standards-the-best-looking/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [If you take a look at Afghan history, usually they have united to defend against an outside enemy, and as soon as that's accomplished,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-eagleburger/if-you-take-a-look-at-afghan-history-usually-they-have-united-to/) [Lawrence Eagleburger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-eagleburger/) > [The people suffering most from the Taliban were Afghans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/the-people-suffering-most-from-the-taliban-were-afghans/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [No Afghans, as far as we know, have been involved in terrorist acts against our country. We shouldn't be swatting at hornets' nests we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-goetzman/no-afghans-as-far-as-we-know-have-been-involved-in-terrorist-acts/) [Gary Goetzman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-goetzman/) > [The Afghans I met were some of the nicest and most honorable people I've ever encountered. There is a code called 'Pashtunwali,' so if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-thor/the-afghans-i-met-were-some-of-the-nicest-and-most-honorable-people-i/) [Brad Thor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-thor/) > [The majority of Afghans do not see the Americans as foreign occupiers who must be defeated. Instead, they are hungry for the Americans to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-tzemach-lemmon/the-majority-of-afghans-do-not-see-the-americans-as-foreign-occupiers/) [Gayle Tzemach Lemmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-tzemach-lemmon/) > [“Take two Afghans who've never met, put them in a room for ten minutes, and they'll figure out how they're related.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/take-two-afghans-who-ve-never-met-put-them-in-a-room-for-ten-minutes/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [A sea-green sky: lamps blossoming white. This is marginal land: fields of strung wire, of treadless tyres in ditches, fridges dead on their backs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/a-sea-green-sky-lamps-blossoming-white-this-is-marginal-land-fields/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [Obviously it is right that the Afghans take responsibility for their own future in the end, but they need to know and feel that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/obviously-it-is-right-that-the-afghans-take-responsibility-for-their/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) > [“In Our Villages - You killed thousands by thousands, after each thousand, You are killing another one thousand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abed-rahmani/in-our-villages-you-killed-thousands-by-thousands-after-each-thousand/) [Abed Rahmani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abed-rahmani/) > [“The Hindi kid would soon learn what the British learned earlier in the century, and what the Russians would eventually learn by the late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/the-hindi-kid-would-soon-learn-what-the-british-learned-earlier-in/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“By not burning their poppy fields to the ground but instead maintaining a security umbrella that international development agencies could safely work under as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-wood/by-not-burning-their-poppy-fields-to-the-ground-but-instead/) [Jake Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-wood/) > ['In the nineteenth century, we beat the British more than once,' Afghans often told me. 'In the twentieth century, we beat the Russians. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/in-the-nineteenth-century-we-beat-the-british-more-than-once-afghans/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) ## More by Phyllis Chesler > [Only the powerless live in a money culture and know nothing about money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/only-the-powerless-live-in-a-money-culture-and-know-nothing-about/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) > [Ideal mental health, like freedom, exists for one person only if it exists for all people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/ideal-mental-health-like-freedom-exists-for-one-person-only-if-it/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) > [If it were natural for father to care for their sons, they would not need so many laws commanding them to do so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/if-it-were-natural-for-father-to-care-for-their-sons-they-would-not/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) > [“It is impossible for a Westerner to imagine the deadening torpor of a protected life under house arrest. Eventually, one is grateful for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/it-is-impossible-for-a-westerner-to-imagine-the-deadening-torpor-of-a/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) > [“The idea that women's strong attachments to each other are what make them so vulnerable is horrifying. I count my close friendships with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/the-idea-that-women-s-strong-attachments-to-each-other-are-what-make/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) > [All men are not rapists - but almost all rapists are men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/all-men-are-not-rapists-but-almost-all-rapists-are-men/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) > [Should or can there be a single standard of behavior for both sexes? Is there such a thing as a biologically rooted female culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/should-or-can-there-be-a-single-standard-of-behavior-for-both-sexes/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) > [Perhaps only some young women, perhaps only a minority of all women, will be able to effect such changes through consciousness alone, through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/perhaps-only-some-young-women-perhaps-only-a-minority-of-all-women/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) > [“Encountering gender apartheid and waged slavery shook me to my roots more than half a century ago in Afghanistan. Oh, the women of Afghanistan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/encountering-gender-apartheid-and-waged-slavery-shook-me-to-my-roots/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) > [children need truly evolved people - not other, larger children - as parents. Therefore, don't have a child until you've forged your own identity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/children-need-truly-evolved-people-not-other-larger-children-as/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) > [“The chowdry, or burqa -- the Saudi, North African, and Central Asian version of the head, face, and body shroud -- is a sensory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/the-chowdry-or-burqa-the-saudi-north-african-and-central-asian/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) > [Most mother-women give up whatever ghost of a unique and human self they may have when they 'marry' and raise children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/most-mother-women-give-up-whatever-ghost-of-a-unique-and-human-self/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) > [“That these girls avoid use of physical violence in resolving conflict, does not mean that these conflicts are resolved in meaningful and enduring ways.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/that-these-girls-avoid-use-of-physical-violence-in-resolving-conflict/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) > [Goddesses never die. They slip in and out of the world's cities, in and out of our dreams, century after century, answering to different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/goddesses-never-die-they-slip-in-and-out-of-the-world-s-cities-in-and/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) > [Women ... do not have to forsake the "wisdom of the heart" and become men. They need only transfer the primary force of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-chesler/women-do-not-have-to-forsake-the-wisdom-of-the-heart-and-become-men/) [Phyllis Chesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) [Explore all 39 Phyllis Chesler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-chesler/) ## More Afghans quotes > [ Our \[Afghanistan\] main problem is education. Over 90 percent of our population is uneducated. So what can you expect? The terrorists come from Syria,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/najibullah-quraishi/our-afghanistan-main-problem-is-education-over-90-percent-of-our/) [Najibullah Quraishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/najibullah-quraishi/) > [“By not burning their poppy fields to the ground but instead maintaining a security umbrella that international development agencies could safely work under as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-wood/by-not-burning-their-poppy-fields-to-the-ground-but-instead/) [Jake Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-wood/) > [“The Hindi kid would soon learn what the British learned earlier in the century, and what the Russians would eventually learn by the late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/the-hindi-kid-would-soon-learn-what-the-british-learned-earlier-in/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“In Our Villages - You killed thousands by thousands, after each thousand, You are killing another one thousand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abed-rahmani/in-our-villages-you-killed-thousands-by-thousands-after-each-thousand/) [Abed Rahmani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abed-rahmani/) > [Obviously it is right that the Afghans take responsibility for their own future in the end, but they need to know and feel that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/obviously-it-is-right-that-the-afghans-take-responsibility-for-their/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) > [A sea-green sky: lamps blossoming white. This is marginal land: fields of strung wire, of treadless tyres in ditches, fridges dead on their backs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/a-sea-green-sky-lamps-blossoming-white-this-is-marginal-land-fields/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“Take two Afghans who've never met, put them in a room for ten minutes, and they'll figure out how they're related.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/take-two-afghans-who-ve-never-met-put-them-in-a-room-for-ten-minutes/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [The majority of Afghans do not see the Americans as foreign occupiers who must be defeated. Instead, they are hungry for the Americans to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-tzemach-lemmon/the-majority-of-afghans-do-not-see-the-americans-as-foreign-occupiers/) [Gayle Tzemach Lemmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-tzemach-lemmon/) > [The Afghans I met were some of the nicest and most honorable people I've ever encountered. There is a code called 'Pashtunwali,' so if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-thor/the-afghans-i-met-were-some-of-the-nicest-and-most-honorable-people-i/) [Brad Thor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-thor/) > [No Afghans, as far as we know, have been involved in terrorist acts against our country. We shouldn't be swatting at hornets' nests we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-goetzman/no-afghans-as-far-as-we-know-have-been-involved-in-terrorist-acts/) [Gary Goetzman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-goetzman/) > [The people suffering most from the Taliban were Afghans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/the-people-suffering-most-from-the-taliban-were-afghans/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [If you take a look at Afghan history, usually they have united to defend against an outside enemy, and as soon as that's accomplished,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-eagleburger/if-you-take-a-look-at-afghan-history-usually-they-have-united-to/) [Lawrence Eagleburger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-eagleburger/) > [Undoubtedly the Afghans must be, by our standards, the best-looking people in the world. They have everything; height, proportions, carriage, features and complexion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/undoubtedly-the-afghans-must-be-by-our-standards-the-best-looking/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [The Afghans themselves say that if you put two Afghans in a room, you get three factions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/the-afghans-themselves-say-that-if-you-put-two-afghans-in-a-room-you/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > ['In the nineteenth century, we beat the British more than once,' Afghans often told me. 'In the twentieth century, we beat the Russians. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/in-the-nineteenth-century-we-beat-the-british-more-than-once-afghans/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) [Browse all 45 Afghans quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afghans/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Afghans excel at fighting Afghans. This is what Afghans do, even when they are not being invaded by foreign powers. 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