--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Damned Beaver/Jeremy is the War, he is…" description: "\"“Damned Beaver/Jeremy is the War, he is every assertion the fucking War has ever made--that we are meant for work and government, for austerity: and th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/724/thomas-pynchon-533_expectations_damned-beaver-jeremy-is-the-war-he-is-ev_394528.jpg" --- # Damned Beaver/Jeremy is the War, he is every assertion the… ![“Damned Beaver/Jeremy is the War, he is every assertion the fucking War has ever made--that we are meant for work and government, for austerity: and these shall take priority over love, dreams, the spirit, the senses and the other second-class trivia that are found among the idle and mindless hours…” quote by Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/724/thomas-pynchon-533_expectations_damned-beaver-jeremy-is-the-war-he-is-ev_394528.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/724/thomas-pynchon-533_expectations_damned-beaver-jeremy-is-the-war-he-is-ev_394528.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/724/thomas-pynchon-533_expectations_damned-beaver-jeremy-is-the-war-he-is-ev_394528.jpg) > ““Damned Beaver/Jeremy is the War, he is every assertion the fucking War has ever made--that we are meant for work and government, for austerity: and these shall take priority over love, dreams, the spirit, the senses and the other second-class trivia that are found among the idle and mindless hours of the day…Damn them, they are wrong. They are insane.”” [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques the oppressive societal structures that prioritize work, austerity, and control over human joy, love, and imagination, labeling them as insane. **In simple terms:** Society forces work over love and dreams. Key Takeaway Question and resist oppressive norms. Themes politics society individualism rebellion Mood defiant critical angry Type philosophical political cultural When to use this quote - workplace - government policy - personal relationships - creative pursuits Key Concepts authoritarianism alienation materialism Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance responsibility with personal fulfillment? - What systems can you change to value love and creativity? A Different Perspective It may overlook the necessity of some order and resources. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beaver Jeremy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beaver-jeremy-3552519/) [Damned Beaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/damned-beaver-3552518/) [Expectations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expectations/) [Fucking War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fucking-war-2955075/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Rebellion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rebellion/) [Status quo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/status-quo/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War Assertion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-assertion-3552517/) [War Meant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-meant-2345917/) ## Related quotes > [“This wasn’t making love. This wasn’t even fucking. This was war. And hell it felt good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pepper-winters/this-wasn-t-making-love-this-wasn-t-even-fucking-this-was-war-and/) [Pepper Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pepper-winters/) > [“No it was my choice. It's what I wanted to do. And I knew they'd probably send me to Iraq. It's not like anybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fountain/no-it-was-my-choice-it-s-what-i-wanted-to-do-and-i-knew-they-d/) [Ben Fountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fountain/) > [“he is every assertion the fucking War has ever made-that we are meant for work and government, for austerity: and these shall take priority…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/he-is-every-assertion-the-fucking-war-has-ever-made-that-we-are-meant/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Throughout history, the word "war" has meant one thing to human beings: loss of life. The word "peace" has always meant security and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-h-metwally/throughout-history-the-word-war-has-meant-one-thing-to-human-beings/) [A.H. Metwally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-h-metwally/) > [“I wanted to ask which war---the Boer or the Crimean? It was amazing how old people could talk about The War, as though that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-christopher/i-wanted-to-ask-which-war-the-boer-or-the-crimean-it-was-amazing-how/) [John Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-christopher/) > [ In fact, it's pretty dramatic when you get to 1975, very revealing, the \[Vietnam\] war ends. Everybody had to write something about the war,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/in-fact-it-s-pretty-dramatic-when-you-get-to-1975-very-revealing-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [That letter was your whole future, you daft prince." "It was my past. I lost that the night my parents died. But I found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-westerfeld/that-letter-was-your-whole-future-you-daft-prince-it-was-my-past-i/) [Scott Westerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-westerfeld/) > [To the non-combatants and those on the periphery of action, the war meant only boredom or occasional excitement, but to those who entered the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-the-non-combatants-and-those-on-the-periphery-of-action-the-war/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Famine, plague, death and war... that's a pretty good description of 1917-18. The war was meant to end quickly, but by 1917 it seemed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jenkins/famine-plague-death-and-war-that-s-a-pretty-good-description-of-1917/) [Philip Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jenkins/) > [“For those of my generation, the war had been a fact of life since birth. Many had assumed it would end at our deaths,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaida-jones/for-those-of-my-generation-the-war-had-been-a-fact-of-life-since/) [Jaida Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaida-jones/) > [“It was not his nature to believe that he should engage in any kind of meddling or become actively involved in politics. His vocation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carola-giedion-welcker/it-was-not-his-nature-to-believe-that-he-should-engage-in-any-kind-of/) [Carola Giedion-Welcker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carola-giedion-welcker/) > [ We are now in the midst of our first television war ... the television environment \[is\] total and therefore invisible. Along with the computer,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/we-are-now-in-the-midst-of-our-first-television-war-the-television/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“Counting noses, Bess missed Andy and went to look for him. She found him finally in the dining room, in the corner at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/counting-noses-bess-missed-andy-and-went-to-look-for-him-she-found/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“Then he picked up the pen and said softly, but clearly, "The first sentence of our first card will read: Mother! The Führer has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-fallada/then-he-picked-up-the-pen-and-said-softly-but-clearly-the-first/) [Hans Fallada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-fallada/) > [“It's not a matter of whether the war is not real, or if it is, Victory is not possible. The war is not meant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-s-not-a-matter-of-whether-the-war-is-not-real-or-if-it-is-victory/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More by Thomas Pynchon > [“How strange tonight, this city. As if something trembled below its surface, waiting to burst through.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/how-strange-tonight-this-city-as-if-something-trembled-below-its/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“It was one of those great iron afternoons in London: the yellow sun being teased apart by a thoasand chimneys breathing, fawning upward without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/it-was-one-of-those-great-iron-afternoons-in-london-the-yellow-sun/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Surely for as long as there have been nights as bad as this one---something to raise the possibility of another night that could actually,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/surely-for-as-long-as-there-have-been-nights-as-bad-as-this-one/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Death glided by, shadowless, among the empties on the grass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/death-glided-by-shadowless-among-the-empties-on-the-grass/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“People read what news they wanted to and each accordingly built his own rathouse of history's rags and straws.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/people-read-what-news-they-wanted-to-and-each-accordingly-built-his/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Out of that night and day of unconditional wrath, folks would've expected to see any city, if it survived, all newly reborn, purified by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/out-of-that-night-and-day-of-unconditional-wrath-folks-would-ve/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“As spread thighs are to the libertine...so was the letter V to young Stencil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/as-spread-thighs-are-to-the-libertine-so-was-the-letter-v-to-young/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Oedipa wondered whether, at the end of this (if it were supposed to end), she too might not be left with only compiled memories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/oedipa-wondered-whether-at-the-end-of-this-if-it-were-supposed-to-end/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/if-they-can-get-you-asking-the-wrong-questions-they-don-t-have-to/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“remember didn't you sneak away from camp to have a moment alone with What you felt stirring across the land . . . it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/remember-didn-t-you-sneak-away-from-camp-to-have-a-moment-alone-with/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Through rain...then through dreaming glass, green with the evening. And herself in chair, old-fashioned, bonneted, looking west over the deck of Earth, inferno red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/through-rain-then-through-dreaming-glass-green-with-the-evening-and/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“She knew instinctively: he will be fine as the fraternity boy just out of an Ivy League school who knows he will never stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/she-knew-instinctively-he-will-be-fine-as-the-fraternity-boy-just-out/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Lovely morning, World War Two.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/lovely-morning-world-war-two/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“Listen to anything and take it apart again. Spectrum analysis, in my head. I can break down chords, and timbres, and words too into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/listen-to-anything-and-take-it-apart-again-spectrum-analysis-in-my/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [A screaming comes across the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/a-screaming-comes-across-the-sky/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) [Explore all 483 Thomas Pynchon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) ## More Expectations quotes > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/) [Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/) > [My mom had very low expectations for me, and she really had a point. I was a big problem at seventeen. If I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/my-mom-had-very-low-expectations-for-me-and-she-really-had-a-point-i/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I've long believed one of the mainsprings of our own liberty has been the widespread ownership of property among our people and the expectation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-ve-long-believed-one-of-the-mainsprings-of-our-own-liberty-has-been/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [I say this all the time: I've always been really good at managing my expectations so that I'm not let down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brett-young/i-say-this-all-the-time-i-ve-always-been-really-good-at-managing-my/) [Brett Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brett-young/) > [When Allah puts barakah (His blessings) in something, it will come beyond your expectations- never underestimate the power of one good deed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/when-allah-puts-barakah-his-blessings-in-something-it-will-come/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [Keeping up with everybody's expectation is soooo hard!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi/keeping-up-with-everybody-s-expectation-is-soooo-hard/) [Naomi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi/) > [I recognize I am essentially a failed human being in the sense that I can't possibly live up to the expectations of an Almighty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-recognize-i-am-essentially-a-failed-human-being-in-the-sense-that-i/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [We're wired to expect the world to be brighter and more meaningful and more obviously interesting than it actually is. And when we realize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/we-re-wired-to-expect-the-world-to-be-brighter-and-more-meaningful/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [“Does your reality match your expectations? If not it's time to change either your expectations or your reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-redhead/does-your-reality-match-your-expectations-if-not-it-s-time-to-change/) [Steven Redhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-redhead/) > [Jesus' kingdom was not like the popular expectation. He used the phrase 'kingdom of God' with a different meaning. His kingdom was not of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-harpur/jesus-kingdom-was-not-like-the-popular-expectation-he-used-the-phrase/) [Tom Harpur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-harpur/) > [Disappointment contains an appointment for doing much better. High expectations mean your higher capacity and belief in abilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasneem-hameed/disappointment-contains-an-appointment-for-doing-much-better-high/) [Tasneem Hameed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasneem-hameed/) > [It's a good place when all you have is hope and not expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-boyle/it-s-a-good-place-when-all-you-have-is-hope-and-not-expectations/) [Danny Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-boyle/) > [When we give from a place of love, rather than from a place of expectation, more usually comes back to us than we could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/when-we-give-from-a-place-of-love-rather-than-from-a-place-of/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [Everybody out there watches the show and has expectations of wanting to be an 'Idol', but we're going to teach them how much hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bo-bice/everybody-out-there-watches-the-show-and-has-expectations-of-wanting/) [Bo Bice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bo-bice/) > [When we fall utterly, something gathers us up. But our falling must be without reservation, without expectation, without hope, though not hopeless. You cant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-fall-utterly-something-gathers-us-up-but-our-falling-must-be/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) [Browse all 4,210 Expectations quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expectations/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Damned Beaver/Jeremy is the War, he is every assertion the fucking War has ever made--that we are meant for work and government, for austerity: and these shall take priority over love, dreams, the spirit, the senses and the other second-class trivia that are found among the idle and mindless hours of the day…Damn them, they are wrong. 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