--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A man who does not know how to wage a…" description: "\"“A man who does not know how to wage a just battle, first with himself and then with others, has no values worth defending, no ideals worth aspiring to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/sam-keen-4929_mensch_a-man-who-does-not-know-how-to-wage-a-ju_319177.jpg" --- # A man who does not know how to wage a just battle, first… ![“A man who does not know how to wage a just battle, first with himself and then with others, has no values worth defending, no ideals worth aspiring to, no awareness of the disease of which he might be healed. And no mensch worships the status quo.” quote by Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/sam-keen-4929_mensch_a-man-who-does-not-know-how-to-wage-a-ju_319177.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/sam-keen-4929_mensch_a-man-who-does-not-know-how-to-wage-a-ju_319177.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/sam-keen-4929_mensch_a-man-who-does-not-know-how-to-wage-a-ju_319177.jpg) > ““A man who does not know how to wage a just battle, first with himself and then with others, has no values worth defending, no ideals worth aspiring to, no awareness of the disease of which he might be healed. And no mensch worships the status quo.”” [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A person must first confront and correct his own inner conflicts before he can fight external battles, otherwise he lacks true values and purpose. **In simple terms:** Fix yourself before fighting others. Key Takeaway Self‑examine before confronting others. Themes self‑awareness integrity conflict values healing Mood reflective determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal relationships - leadership - activism - conflict resolution Key Concepts inner conflict moral philosophy personal growth Questions to Reflect On - What inner battles must you settle first? - How do personal values guide your actions? A Different Perspective Self‑improvement is difficult and may reveal uncomfortable truths. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Defending Ideals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defending-ideals-3011624/) [Healed Mensch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healed-mensch-3011622/) [Just Battle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-battle-2561892/) [Mensch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mensch/) [Mensch Worships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mensch-worships-3011623/) [Status quo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/status-quo/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [“we just battle time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-keegan/we-just-battle-time/) [Marina Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-keegan/) > [I know just how this battle goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-sean/i-know-just-how-this-battle-goes/) [Jay Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-sean/) > [This coffee falls into your stomach, and straightway there is a general commotion. Ideas begin to move like the battalions of the Grand Army…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/this-coffee-falls-into-your-stomach-and-straightway-there-is-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“Yes, they’d lost. But it was just a battle, not the war.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-zahn/yes-they-d-lost-but-it-was-just-a-battle-not-the-war/) [Timothy Zahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-zahn/) > [ A God-intoxicated man. \[Ger., Gott-trunkener Mensch.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novalis/a-god-intoxicated-man-ger-gott-trunkener-mensch/) [Novalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novalis/) > [“A leader's upbeat mood metaphorically oxygenates the blood of followers—its' a transfusion into the corporate arteries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruna-martinuzzi/a-leader-s-upbeat-mood-metaphorically-oxygenates-the-blood-of/) [Bruna Martinuzzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruna-martinuzzi/) > [Der Mensch ist, was er isst. Man is what he eats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-feuerbach/der-mensch-ist-was-er-isst-man-is-what-he-eats/) [Ludwig Feuerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-feuerbach/) > [“Mensch kann tun was er will; er kann aber nicht wollen was er will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/mensch-kann-tun-was-er-will-er-kann-aber-nicht-wollen-was-er-will/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [“We will never known what opportunities we may have missed in life by showing up tight-fisted. It is hard to receive anything if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruna-martinuzzi/we-will-never-known-what-opportunities-we-may-have-missed-in-life-by/) [Bruna Martinuzzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruna-martinuzzi/) > [“Ausgerechnet der Mensch ist unmenschlich.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/ausgerechnet-der-mensch-ist-unmenschlich/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [“Was aber der Mensch nicht kritisieren, korrigieren und in der Phantasie vollenden darf, dem kann er sich auch nicht nähern, weder in Gedanken noch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juli-zeh/was-aber-der-mensch-nicht-kritisieren-korrigieren-und-in-der/) [Juli Zeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juli-zeh/) > [“Mensch, es spukt in deinem Kopfe!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/mensch-es-spukt-in-deinem-kopfe/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [“ Der Mensch kann tun was er will; er kann aber nicht wollen was er will. Man can do what he wills but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/der-mensch-kann-tun-was-er-will-er-kann-aber-nicht-wollen-was-er-will/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [“An die Kälte kann der Mensch sich nicht gewöhnen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-amundsen/an-die-k-lte-kann-der-mensch-sich-nicht-gew-hnen/) [Roald Amundsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-amundsen/) > [“When someone has wronged you, continue to treat them with civility. It’s the ultimate mark of a mensch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruna-martinuzzi/when-someone-has-wronged-you-continue-to-treat-them-with-civility-it/) [Bruna Martinuzzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruna-martinuzzi/) ## More by Sam Keen > [Wise people are able to give themselves gracefully to seemingly contradictory experiences, because they know that they belong to different seasons of life, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/wise-people-are-able-to-give-themselves-gracefully-to-seemingly/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [To sustain love, a man and a woman must continually be marrying and divorcing, moving with, against, away from, and beyond each other, saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/to-sustain-love-a-man-and-a-woman-must-continually-be-marrying-and/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Mystical experiences (unlike scientific conclusions) cannot be communicated from one person to another. Philosophers and little children are continually amazed that we, unaccountably, find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/mystical-experiences-unlike-scientific-conclusions-cannot-be/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [In a way, human beings have never been part of the natural order; we're not biological in the normal sense. Normal biological animals stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/in-a-way-human-beings-have-never-been-part-of-the-natural-order-we-re/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/to-be-on-a-quest-is-nothing-more-or-less-than-to-become-an-asker-of/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [There is the extreme of hopelessness and the inevitability of doom, a deep despair that comes from the sense that our industrial, consuming society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/there-is-the-extreme-of-hopelessness-and-the-inevitability-of-doom-a/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Chronological time is what we measure by clocks and calendars; it is always linear, orderly, quantifiable, and mechanical. Kairotic time is organic, rhythmic, bodily,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/chronological-time-is-what-we-measure-by-clocks-and-calendars-it-is/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Human beings are what I think of as "biomythic" animals: we're controlled largely by the stories we tell. When we get the story wrong,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/human-beings-are-what-i-think-of-as-biomythic-animals-we-re/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [If we come from good families where we have been supported well, there is a disillusionment we have to undergo in terms of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/if-we-come-from-good-families-where-we-have-been-supported-well-there/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [To a large extent, the aged in our society are ghettoized. Old people are seen as useless, bypassed by history, old-fashioned, in the way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/to-a-large-extent-the-aged-in-our-society-are-ghettoized-old-people/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Call it "womb awe" or even "womb worship" but it's not simple envy. I don't remember even wanting to be a woman. But each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/call-it-womb-awe-or-even-womb-worship-but-it-s-not-simple-envy-i-don/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Mounting an expedition to actualize a Compassionate Commonwealth of all peoples...is the great spiritual challenge of our time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/mounting-an-expedition-to-actualize-a-compassionate-commonwealth-of/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [The root of humanly caused evil is not man's animal nature, not territorial aggression, or innate selfishness, but our need to gain self-esteem, deny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/the-root-of-humanly-caused-evil-is-not-man-s-animal-nature-not/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [If some incarnation of evil as unambiguous as Hitler appeared again, I would have no moral qualms about killing the enemy. But in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/if-some-incarnation-of-evil-as-unambiguous-as-hitler-appeared-again-i/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [What happens if I try to build a life dedicated to avoiding all danger and all unnecessary risk?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/what-happens-if-i-try-to-build-a-life-dedicated-to-avoiding-all/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) [Explore all 104 Sam Keen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) ## More Mensch quotes > [“When someone has wronged you, continue to treat them with civility. It’s the ultimate mark of a mensch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruna-martinuzzi/when-someone-has-wronged-you-continue-to-treat-them-with-civility-it/) [Bruna Martinuzzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruna-martinuzzi/) > [“An die Kälte kann der Mensch sich nicht gewöhnen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-amundsen/an-die-k-lte-kann-der-mensch-sich-nicht-gew-hnen/) [Roald Amundsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-amundsen/) > [“ Der Mensch kann tun was er will; er kann aber nicht wollen was er will. Man can do what he wills but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/der-mensch-kann-tun-was-er-will-er-kann-aber-nicht-wollen-was-er-will/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [“Mensch, es spukt in deinem Kopfe!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/mensch-es-spukt-in-deinem-kopfe/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [“Was aber der Mensch nicht kritisieren, korrigieren und in der Phantasie vollenden darf, dem kann er sich auch nicht nähern, weder in Gedanken noch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juli-zeh/was-aber-der-mensch-nicht-kritisieren-korrigieren-und-in-der/) [Juli Zeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juli-zeh/) > [“Ausgerechnet der Mensch ist unmenschlich.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/ausgerechnet-der-mensch-ist-unmenschlich/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [“We will never known what opportunities we may have missed in life by showing up tight-fisted. It is hard to receive anything if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruna-martinuzzi/we-will-never-known-what-opportunities-we-may-have-missed-in-life-by/) [Bruna Martinuzzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruna-martinuzzi/) > [“Mensch kann tun was er will; er kann aber nicht wollen was er will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/mensch-kann-tun-was-er-will-er-kann-aber-nicht-wollen-was-er-will/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [Der Mensch ist, was er isst. Man is what he eats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-feuerbach/der-mensch-ist-was-er-isst-man-is-what-he-eats/) [Ludwig Feuerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-feuerbach/) > [“A leader's upbeat mood metaphorically oxygenates the blood of followers—its' a transfusion into the corporate arteries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruna-martinuzzi/a-leader-s-upbeat-mood-metaphorically-oxygenates-the-blood-of/) [Bruna Martinuzzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruna-martinuzzi/) > [ A God-intoxicated man. \[Ger., Gott-trunkener Mensch.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novalis/a-god-intoxicated-man-ger-gott-trunkener-mensch/) [Novalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novalis/) > [“Gewöhnt sich der Mensch an den Schmerz, so enden die Schmerzen - So vieles ward auf mich gehäuft, das Schweres leicht mir nun ward.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/gew-hnt-sich-der-mensch-an-den-schmerz-so-enden-die-schmerzen-so/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Der Mensch kann wohl tun was er will, aber er kann nicht wollen was er will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/der-mensch-kann-wohl-tun-was-er-will-aber-er-kann-nicht-wollen-was-er/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [“Alles, was der Mensch tut, unvollkommen ist. Aber wer will sich schon seine Unvollkommenheit eingestehen?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adelbert-von-chamisso/alles-was-der-mensch-tut-unvollkommen-ist-aber-wer-will-sich-schon/) [Adelbert von Chamisso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adelbert-von-chamisso/) > [“Something interesting happens when we approach situations from a perspective of humility—it opens us up to possibilities as we choose open-mindedness and curiosity over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruna-martinuzzi/something-interesting-happens-when-we-approach-situations-from-a/) [Bruna Martinuzzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruna-martinuzzi/) [Browse all 18 Mensch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mensch/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A man who does not know how to wage a just battle, first with himself and then with others, has no values worth defending, no ideals worth aspiring to, no awareness of the disease of which he might be healed. 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