--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You've been telling us about how to…" description: "\"You've been telling us about how to secure peace, but come on, now, General-just among us Rotarians and Rotary Anns-'fess up! With your great experienc..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/354/sinclair-lewis-1945_country_you-ve-been-telling-us-about-how-to-secu_2736270.jpg" --- # You've been telling us about how to secure peace, but come… ![“You've been telling us about how to secure peace, but come on, now, General-just among us Rotarians and Rotary Anns-'fess up! With your great experience, don't you honest, cross-your-heart, think that perhaps-just maybe-when a country has gone money-mad, like all our labor unions and workmen, with…” quote by Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/354/sinclair-lewis-1945_country_you-ve-been-telling-us-about-how-to-secu_2736270.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/354/sinclair-lewis-1945_country_you-ve-been-telling-us-about-how-to-secu_2736270.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/354/sinclair-lewis-1945_country_you-ve-been-telling-us-about-how-to-secu_2736270.jpg) > “You've been telling us about how to secure peace, but come on, now, General-just among us Rotarians and Rotary Anns-'fess up! With your great experience, don't you honest, cross-your-heart, think that perhaps-just maybe-when a country has gone money-mad, like all our labor unions and workmen, with their propaganda to hoist income taxes, so that the thrifty and industrious have to pay for the shiftless ne'er-do-weels, then maybe, to save their lazy souls and get some iron into them, a war might be a good thing? Come on, now, tell your real middle name, Mong General!” [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker satirically suggests war might be justified when economic policies harm the industrious, exposing hypocrisy in political rhetoric. **In simple terms:** War is absurdly proposed as a solution to economic grievances. Key Takeaway Question the logic behind war as a fix. Themes war economics politics satire hypocrisy Mood critical ironic Type political satirical When to use this quote - public debates - policy analysis - historical study - media commentary Key Concepts Political manipulation social justice class conflict Questions to Reflect On - When do leaders use war to distract from policy failures? - What alternatives exist to address economic inequality? A Different Perspective War rarely solves underlying economic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Good things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-things/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest/) [Income](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/income/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Labor union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor-union/) [Labor Unions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor-unions/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Propaganda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/propaganda/) [Rotary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rotary/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Taxes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taxes/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thrifty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thrifty/) [Unions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unions/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [Astronauts: rotarians in outer space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/astronauts-rotarians-in-outer-space/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices today than any of you to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-tecumseh-sherman/i-know-i-had-no-hand-in-making-this-war-and-i-know-i-will-make-more-2/) [William Tecumseh Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-tecumseh-sherman/) > [The time has come - and must come - for multilateral conversations about a secure peace in all of Europe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-heinemann/the-time-has-come-and-must-come-for-multilateral-conversations-about/) [Gustav Heinemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-heinemann/) > [It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/it-is-an-unfortunate-fact-that-we-can-secure-peace-only-by-preparing/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [Where there is no justice there can be no secure peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aung-san-suu-kyi/where-there-is-no-justice-there-can-be-no-secure-peace/) [Aung San Suu Kyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aung-san-suu-kyi/) > [If a beach-head of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/if-a-beach-head-of-cooperation-may-push-back-the-jungle-of-suspicion/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [To secure peace is to prepare for war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/to-secure-peace-is-to-prepare-for-war/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices to-day than any of you to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-tecumseh-sherman/i-know-i-had-no-hand-in-making-this-war-and-i-know-i-will-make-more/) [William Tecumseh Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-tecumseh-sherman/) > [When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/when-we-send-our-young-men-and-women-into-harm-s-way-we-have-a-solemn/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [We have all taken risks in the making of war. Isn't it time that we should take risks to secure peace?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramsay-macdonald/we-have-all-taken-risks-in-the-making-of-war-isn-t-it-time-that-we/) [Ramsay MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramsay-macdonald/) > [If the conflict in Lebanon continues, the risk of attacks will grow. This is why we must contribute to a joint (international) responsibility and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-schauble/if-the-conflict-in-lebanon-continues-the-risk-of-attacks-will-grow/) [Wolfgang Schauble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-schauble/) > [Thus, if armaments were curtailed without a secure peace and all countries disarmed proportionately, military security would have been in no way affected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-quidde/thus-if-armaments-were-curtailed-without-a-secure-peace-and-all/) [Ludwig Quidde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-quidde/) > [The one common undertaking and universal instrument of the great majority of the human race is the United Nations. A patient, constructive long-term use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trygve-lie/the-one-common-undertaking-and-universal-instrument-of-the-great/) Trygve Lie > [If we desire to secure peace...it must be known that we are at all times ready for war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/if-we-desire-to-secure-peace-it-must-be-known-that-we-are-at-all/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [The way to secure peace is to be prepared for war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-frankln/the-way-to-secure-peace-is-to-be-prepared-for-war/) Benjamin Frankln ## More by Sinclair Lewis > [“She found beauty in the children.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/she-found-beauty-in-the-children/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [What is Love? Listen! It is the rainbow that stands out, in all its glorious many-colored hues, illuminating and making glad again the dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/what-is-love-listen-it-is-the-rainbow-that-stands-out-in-all-its/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [When you think that most of us are doomed by divine grace to roast in hell, to say nothing of mortgages and hail and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/when-you-think-that-most-of-us-are-doomed-by-divine-grace-to-roast-in/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [He loved the people just as much as he feared and detested persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/he-loved-the-people-just-as-much-as-he-feared-and-detested-persons/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“He had expected that traditionally Republican Vermont would give him too drearily easy a task in preaching Trowbridge. 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We're tired of always deferring hope to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/i-think-perhaps-we-want-a-more-conscientious-life-we-re-tired-of/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [It might be the doing of Satan, in whom Aaron anxiously believed with all of his being except, perhaps, his mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/it-might-be-the-doing-of-satan-in-whom-aaron-anxiously-believed-with/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“The author says one character's definition of a classic is any book he'd heard of before he was thirty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/the-author-says-one-character-s-definition-of-a-classic-is-any-book/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Like all males, he hated to confess ignorance by asking directions,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/like-all-males-he-hated-to-confess-ignorance-by-asking-directions/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [Winter is not a season, it's an occupation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/winter-is-not-a-season-it-s-an-occupation/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Author sees the "congested idealism" of the generally discontent as reservoir that will support centralized power even while disagreeing with many specific provisions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/author-sees-the-congested-idealism-of-the-generally-discontent-as/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“The poor we have always with us, and the purpose of the Lord in providing the poor is to enable us of the better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/the-poor-we-have-always-with-us-and-the-purpose-of-the-lord-in/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) [Explore all 196 Sinclair Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) ## More Country quotes > [I love playing for my country, getting the support. 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