--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He said that if we were going to have a…" description: "\"He said that if we were going to have a war, they would never be the first ones to start it.\" — Samantha Smith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/samantha-smith-49860_be-the-first_he-said-that-if-we-were-going-to-have-a_2248074.jpg" --- # He said that if we were going to have a war, they would… ![“He said that if we were going to have a war, they would never be the first ones to start it.” quote by Samantha Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/samantha-smith-49860_be-the-first_he-said-that-if-we-were-going-to-have-a_2248074.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/samantha-smith-49860_be-the-first_he-said-that-if-we-were-going-to-have-a_2248074.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/samantha-smith-49860_be-the-first_he-said-that-if-we-were-going-to-have-a_2248074.jpg) > “He said that if we were going to have a war, they would never be the first ones to start it.” [Samantha Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She warned that the aggressor would never initiate conflict, emphasizing the importance of vigilance and deterrence. **In simple terms:** Aggressors rarely start wars; be watchful. Key Takeaway Stay alert to hidden threats. Themes peace war deterrence vigilance Mood cautious serious Type advisory political When to use this quote - government policy - military planning - public awareness - media analysis Key Concepts political strategy conflict theory psychology of aggression Questions to Reflect On - How can societies detect covert aggression early? - What signs indicate an imminent conflict? A Different Perspective Assumes all conflicts follow this pattern, which may not hold in asymmetric warfare. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Be the first](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/be-the-first/) [First](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first/) [Going](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going/) [Going War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going-war/) [He](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/he/) [Never](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/never/) [Ones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ones/) [Ones Start](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ones-start-3539165/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Start](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/start/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War Ones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-ones-3128052/) [Were](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/were/) [Would](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would/) ## Related quotes > [“the kandra people were at war again, and the only ones”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/the-kandra-people-were-at-war-again-and-the-only-ones/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [There is a war between the ones who say there is a war and the ones who say there isn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/there-is-a-war-between-the-ones-who-say-there-is-a-war-and-the-ones/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [Wars happen because the ones who start them think they can win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/wars-happen-because-the-ones-who-start-them-think-they-can-win/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Our favorite rom-coms are the ones where we get to start a conversation about something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celine-song/our-favorite-rom-coms-are-the-ones-where-we-get-to-start-a/) [Celine Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celine-song/) > [The Homunculi may have started the war, but we were the ones who carried it out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiromu-arakawa/the-homunculi-may-have-started-the-war-but-we-were-the-ones-who/) [Hiromu Arakawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiromu-arakawa/) > [If you aren't please tell me how you are going to not have a war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-smith/if-you-aren-t-please-tell-me-how-you-are-going-to-not-have-a-war/) [Samantha Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-smith/) > [Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gen-h-norman-schwartzkopf/going-to-war-without-france-is-like-going-deer-hunting-without-your/) [Gen H Norman Schwartzkopf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gen-h-norman-schwartzkopf/) > [“Loving you was like going to war; I never came back the same.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/loving-you-was-like-going-to-war-i-never-came-back-the-same/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [There is one hell of a difference between fighting in the ring and going to war in Vietnam.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/there-is-one-hell-of-a-difference-between-fighting-in-the-ring-and/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [If you use weapons of war to bring about peace, you're going to have more war and destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coretta-scott-king/if-you-use-weapons-of-war-to-bring-about-peace-you-re-going-to-have/) [Coretta Scott King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coretta-scott-king/) > [Going to war accelerated the move from indirect to direct rule. Almost any state that makes war finds that it cannot pay for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-tilly/going-to-war-accelerated-the-move-from-indirect-to-direct-rule-almost/) [Charles Tilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-tilly/) > [“For some politics has become a battle ground that allows them to vent their frustrations, while at the same time hide behind the anonymity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-the-exciting-story-of-cuba/for-some-politics-has-become-a-battle-ground-that-allows-them-to-vent/) [Captain Hank Bracker, The Exciting Story of Cuba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/captain-hank-bracker-the-exciting-story-of-cuba/) > [The THE TABLOIDS are always going to be a war for POPULARITY in the CELEB world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-cabot/the-the-tabloids-are-always-going-to-be-a-war-for-popularity-in-the/) [Meg Cabot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-cabot/) > [This too is a jihad. Yet we Americans find ourselves in the dangerous position of going to war not against a state but against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/this-too-is-a-jihad-yet-we-americans-find-ourselves-in-the-dangerous/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [Going to war against Iran - whether one calls such a move 'surgical' or 'total' - would be an extremely serious undertaking; with worldwide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-barr/going-to-war-against-iran-whether-one-calls-such-a-move-surgical-or/) [Bob Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-barr/) ## More by Samantha Smith > [Well, I just hope we can have peace, and I hope it'll do some good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-smith/well-i-just-hope-we-can-have-peace-and-i-hope-it-ll-do-some-good/) [Samantha Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-smith/) > [If you aren't please tell me how you are going to not have a war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-smith/if-you-aren-t-please-tell-me-how-you-are-going-to-not-have-a-war/) [Samantha Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-smith/) > [Sometimes I still worry that the next day will be the last day of the Earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-smith/sometimes-i-still-worry-that-the-next-day-will-be-the-last-day-of-the/) [Samantha Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-smith/) > [And he said that he didn't want to have a war or anything like that again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-smith/and-he-said-that-he-didn-t-want-to-have-a-war-or-anything-like-that/) [Samantha Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-smith/) > [God made the world for us to live together in peace and not fight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-smith/god-made-the-world-for-us-to-live-together-in-peace-and-not-fight/) [Samantha Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-smith/) > [Well, I asked him who would start the war first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-smith/well-i-asked-him-who-would-start-the-war-first/) [Samantha Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-smith/) [Explore all 7 Samantha Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-smith/) ## More Be the first quotes > [I thought I'd be the first to introduce herbal tea to Patna. White tea, ginger tea, rooibos, camomile. No one touched it. On subsequent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/i-thought-i-d-be-the-first-to-introduce-herbal-tea-to-patna-white-tea/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [I wanna be myself and be the first Jason Jordan. I don't wanna be the second Kurt Angle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-jordan/i-wanna-be-myself-and-be-the-first-jason-jordan-i-don-t-wanna-be-the/) [Jason Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-jordan/) > [As a big, you don't want to be the first one to shoot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevon-looney/as-a-big-you-don-t-want-to-be-the-first-one-to-shoot/) [Kevon Looney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevon-looney/) > [I'll be the first to say our military should always be fully funded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-boebert/i-ll-be-the-first-to-say-our-military-should-always-be-fully-funded/) [Lauren Boebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-boebert/) > [Of course, I want to be the first pick. 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Gomez, Benitez, there have been a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-cotto/to-be-the-first-puerto-rican-to-win-a-world-title-in-four-divisions/) [Miguel Cotto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-cotto/) [Browse all 191 Be the first quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/be-the-first/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He said that if we were going to have a war, they would never be the first ones to start it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samantha Smith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-smith/he-said-that-if-we-were-going-to-have-a-war-they-would-never-be-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Be the first" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-smith/he-said-that-if-we-were-going-to-have-a-war-they-would-never-be-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/samantha-smith-49860_be-the-first_he-said-that-if-we-were-going-to-have-a_2248074.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/samantha-smith-49860_be-the-first_he-said-that-if-we-were-going-to-have-a_2248074.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b49/samantha-smith-49860_be-the-first_he-said-that-if-we-were-going-to-have-a_2248074.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He said that if we were going to have a war, they would never be the first ones to start it.” — Samantha Smith", "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": "Samantha Smith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-smith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "He said that if we were...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-smith/he-said-that-if-we-were-going-to-have-a-war-they-would-never-be-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-smith/he-said-that-if-we-were-going-to-have-a-war-they-would-never-be-the/#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 } } ] } ```