--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is difficult at times to repress the…" description: "\"It is difficult at times to repress the thought that history is about as instructive as an abattoir; that Tacitus was right and that peace is merely th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a18/seamus-heaney-1711_behinds_it-is-difficult-at-times-to-repress-the_2405488.png" --- # It is difficult at times to repress the thought that… ![“It is difficult at times to repress the thought that history is about as instructive as an abattoir; that Tacitus was right and that peace is merely the desolation left behind after the decisive operations of merciless power.” quote by Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a18/seamus-heaney-1711_behinds_it-is-difficult-at-times-to-repress-the_2405488.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a18/seamus-heaney-1711_behinds_it-is-difficult-at-times-to-repress-the_2405488.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a18/seamus-heaney-1711_behinds_it-is-difficult-at-times-to-repress-the_2405488.png) > “It is difficult at times to repress the thought that history is about as instructive as an abattoir; that Tacitus was right and that peace is merely the desolation left behind after the decisive operations of merciless power.” [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. History often repeats brutal cycles of power, showing peace as a temporary calm after violent upheavals. **In simple terms:** History repeats violent power struggles, leaving peace as a brief pause. Key Takeaway Recognize patterns to avoid repeating past violence. Themes history power violence peace cycles Mood reflective somber Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - political analysis - education - policy making - conflict resolution Key Concepts political theory human nature war ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can societies build lasting peace after conflict? - What lessons from history are ignored today? A Different Perspective Peace is fragile and can be shattered by new power struggles. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desolation/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Left behind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-behind/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [It is difficult at times to repress the thought that history is about as instructive as an abattoir.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/it-is-difficult-at-times-to-repress-the-thought-that-history-is-about/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [History is instructive. And what it suggests to people is that even if they do little things, if they walk on the picket line,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/history-is-instructive-and-what-it-suggests-to-people-is-that-even-if/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Peace is not merely the absence of war but the presence of justice, of law, of order —in short, of government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/peace-is-not-merely-the-absence-of-war-but-the-presence-of-justice-of/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [There is a certain kind of peace that is not merely the absence of war. It is larger than that. The peace I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-is-a-certain-kind-of-peace-that-is-not-merely-the-absence-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [To have a mind full of peace, merely fill it full of peace. It's as simple as that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/to-have-a-mind-full-of-peace-merely-fill-it-full-of-peace-it-s-as/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [Peace is not merely a vacuum left by the ending of wars. It is the creation of two eternal principles, justice and freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-t-shotwell/peace-is-not-merely-a-vacuum-left-by-the-ending-of-wars-it-is-the/) James T. Shotwell > [“The peace the world pretends to desire is really no peace at all. To some men, peace merely means the liberty to exploit other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-peace-the-world-pretends-to-desire-is-really-no-peace-at-all-to/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Peace is not merely the absence of war. 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It silences the outgoing energy of the mind and feeds the aspiring heart. Peace is not merely the absence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/peace-is-something-tangible-it-silences-the-outgoing-energy-of-the/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [Peace is not merely the absence of war. Nor can it be reduced solely to the maintenance of a balance of power between enemies.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-paul-vi/peace-is-not-merely-the-absence-of-war-nor-can-it-be-reduced-solely/) [Pope Paul VI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-paul-vi/) ## More by Seamus Heaney > [You had to come back to learn how to lose yourself, to be pilot and stray-witch, Hansel and Gretel in one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/you-had-to-come-back-to-learn-how-to-lose-yourself-to-be-pilot-and/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [If self is a location, so is love: Bearings taken, markings, cardinal points, Options, obstinacies, dug heels, and distance, Here and there and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/if-self-is-a-location-so-is-love-bearings-taken-markings-cardinal/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I'm very conscious that people dear to me are alive in my imagination - poets in particular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-m-very-conscious-that-people-dear-to-me-are-alive-in-my-imagination/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Once I was on the job, once I had got started, I felt safe enough, but the anticipation made me tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/once-i-was-on-the-job-once-i-had-got-started-i-felt-safe-enough-but/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [You can have Irish identity in the north and also have your Irish passport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/you-can-have-irish-identity-in-the-north-and-also-have-your-irish/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [The external reality and inner dynamic of happenings in Northern Ireland between 1968 and 1974 were symptomatic of change, violent change admittedly, but change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/the-external-reality-and-inner-dynamic-of-happenings-in-northern/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Hope for a great sea-change timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/hope-for-a-great-sea-change-timid-to-rebuke-and-too-petty-to-forgive/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [One of the very first poems I wrote was Docker That fist would drop a hammer on a Catholic and one of the sturdiest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/one-of-the-very-first-poems-i-wrote-was-docker-that-fist-would-drop-a/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Anything Can Happen is also, incidentally, a poem that arose from teaching. I'd talked about the Horace Ode (I, 34) \[on which the poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/anything-can-happen-is-also-incidentally-a-poem-that-arose-from/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Poetry is always slightly mysterious, and you wonder what is your relationship to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/poetry-is-always-slightly-mysterious-and-you-wonder-what-is-your/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Sink every impulse like a bolt. Secure The bastion of sensation. Do not waver Into language. Do not waver in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/sink-every-impulse-like-a-bolt-secure-the-bastion-of-sensation-do-not/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Two buckets were easier carried than one. / I grew up in between.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/two-buckets-were-easier-carried-than-one-i-grew-up-in-between/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I suppose I'm saying that defiance is actually part of the lyric job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-suppose-i-m-saying-that-defiance-is-actually-part-of-the-lyric-job/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [“It is said that once upon a time St. Kevin was kneeling with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/it-is-said-that-once-upon-a-time-st-kevin-was-kneeling-with-his-arms/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [My father and mother had no sense of entitlement for their children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/my-father-and-mother-had-no-sense-of-entitlement-for-their-children/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) [Explore all 214 Seamus Heaney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) ## More Behinds quotes > [Resist discouragement by speaking His Word over your future. 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Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) Browse all 6,789 Behinds quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is difficult at times to repress the thought that history is about as instructive as an abattoir; that Tacitus was right and that peace is merely the desolation left behind after the decisive operations of merciless power.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Seamus Heaney" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/it-is-difficult-at-times-to-repress-the-thought-that-history-is-about-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Behinds" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/it-is-difficult-at-times-to-repress-the-thought-that-history-is-about-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a18/seamus-heaney-1711_behinds_it-is-difficult-at-times-to-repress-the_2405488.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a18/seamus-heaney-1711_behinds_it-is-difficult-at-times-to-repress-the_2405488.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a18/seamus-heaney-1711_behinds_it-is-difficult-at-times-to-repress-the_2405488.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is difficult at times to repress the thought that history is about as instructive as an abattoir; that…” — Seamus Heaney", "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": "Seamus Heaney", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is difficult at times to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/it-is-difficult-at-times-to-repress-the-thought-that-history-is-about-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/it-is-difficult-at-times-to-repress-the-thought-that-history-is-about-2/#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 } } ] } ```