--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: War is elective. It is not an inevitable…" description: "\"War is elective. It is not an inevitable state of affairs. War is not the weather.\" — Susan Sontag" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d81/susan-sontag-332_affair_war-is-elective-it-is-not-an-inevitable_1945395.jpg" --- # War is elective. It is not an inevitable state of affairs… ![“War is elective. It is not an inevitable state of affairs. War is not the weather.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d81/susan-sontag-332_affair_war-is-elective-it-is-not-an-inevitable_1945395.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d81/susan-sontag-332_affair_war-is-elective-it-is-not-an-inevitable_1945395.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d81/susan-sontag-332_affair_war-is-elective-it-is-not-an-inevitable_1945395.jpg) > “War is elective. It is not an inevitable state of affairs. War is not the weather.” [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. War is a human choice, not a natural inevitability, and should be treated as a political decision. **In simple terms:** War is optional, not inevitable. Key Takeaway Question the necessity of conflict. Themes war politics human agency Mood serious reflective Type political ethical When to use this quote - policy making - activism - education curricula Key Concepts ethical responsibility peace studies political theory Questions to Reflect On - What drives societies to choose war? - How can we promote peace in decision‑making? A Different Perspective Not all conflicts are purely political; some arise from natural disasters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affair/) [Elective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elective/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Weather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weather/) ## Related quotes > [The affairs of war, like the destiny of battles, as well as empires, hang upon a spiders thread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-affairs-of-war-like-the-destiny-of-battles-as-well-as-empires/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [In elective politics, it's up or out. You go up the ladder, or you get out of the game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-brooke/in-elective-politics-it-s-up-or-out-you-go-up-the-ladder-or-you-get/) [Edward Brooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-brooke/) > [It is a travesty for anyone who is elected to office, who serves in an elective office, to engage in voter suppression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-turner/it-is-a-travesty-for-anyone-who-is-elected-to-office-who-serves-in-an/) [Nina Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-turner/) > [I was in college, and I studied everything, but was really not good at anything until I found philosophy, and, then, political science. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kelly/i-was-in-college-and-i-studied-everything-but-was-really-not-good-at/) [Michael Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kelly/) > [I didn't set out with the notion of running for elective office; it sort of grew over time. And I honestly at times questioned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-de-blasio/i-didn-t-set-out-with-the-notion-of-running-for-elective-office-it/) [Bill de Blasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-de-blasio/) > [I've become more and more aware of the promise and struggle to teach the global mind nowadays because I use every chance I get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-bennis/i-ve-become-more-and-more-aware-of-the-promise-and-struggle-to-teach/) [Warren Bennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-bennis/) > [I teach a lecture course on American poetry to as many as 150 students. For a lot of them, it's their only elective, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/i-teach-a-lecture-course-on-american-poetry-to-as-many-as-150/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [There was only one elective at my college for acting, but thank God for that elective because we had a great teacher who introduced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nestor-carbonell/there-was-only-one-elective-at-my-college-for-acting-but-thank-god/) [Nestor Carbonell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nestor-carbonell/) > [It's hard to have both parents involved in elective office at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-kennedy/it-s-hard-to-have-both-parents-involved-in-elective-office-at-the/) [Kerry Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-kennedy/) > [I always knew that I would give back. My mother and my father both believe you have to work hard and give back. 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I have found there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/i-was-in-elective-politics-for-24-years-i-ve-made-four-national-races/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [The unfortunate, yet truly exciting thing about your life, is that there is no core curriculum. The entire place is an elective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/the-unfortunate-yet-truly-exciting-thing-about-your-life-is-that/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [This idea that once you get into politics... you are now signed up for lifelong duty being in elective office, makes a fundamental error…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-gonzalez/this-idea-that-once-you-get-into-politics-you-are-now-signed-up-for/) [Matt Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-gonzalez/) ## More by Susan Sontag > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are ruled by quotations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/we-are-ruled-by-quotations/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/like-the-collector-the-photographer-is-animated-by-a-passion-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Why not eliminate schooling between age 12-16? 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To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The creative phase of an idea coincides with the period during which it insists, cantankerously, on its boundaries, on what makes it different; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-creative-phase-of-an-idea-coincides-with-the-period-during-which/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-objectify-they-turn-an-event-or-a-person-into-something/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I'm not interested in giving aid and comfort to the neo­-Conservatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/i-m-not-interested-in-giving-aid-and-comfort-to-the-neo-conservatives/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The feminist movement has been important to me because it's made me feel less odd and also because it has made me understand some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-feminist-movement-has-been-important-to-me-because-it-s-made-me/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) [Explore all 644 Susan Sontag quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More Affair quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. 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