--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once lead this people into war, and…" description: "\"Once lead this people into war, and they'll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance. To fight, you must be brutal and ruthless, and the spirit ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/310/woodrow-wilson-534_beats_once-lead-this-people-into-war-and-they_1143334.png" --- # Once lead this people into war, and they'll forget there… ![“Once lead this people into war, and they'll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance. To fight, you must be brutal and ruthless, and the spirit of ruthless brutality will enter into the very fiber of our national life, infecting Congress, the courts, the policeman on the beat, the man in…” quote by Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/310/woodrow-wilson-534_beats_once-lead-this-people-into-war-and-they_1143334.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/310/woodrow-wilson-534_beats_once-lead-this-people-into-war-and-they_1143334.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/310/woodrow-wilson-534_beats_once-lead-this-people-into-war-and-they_1143334.png) > “Once lead this people into war, and they'll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance. To fight, you must be brutal and ruthless, and the spirit of ruthless brutality will enter into the very fiber of our national life, infecting Congress, the courts, the policeman on the beat, the man in the street.” [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. War demands brutal tactics, which can erode societal tolerance and corrupt institutions. **In simple terms:** War breeds brutality that spreads into society. Key Takeaway Resist dehumanizing war mentalities. Themes war politics morality societal decay Mood cautionary somber Type political philosophical When to use this quote - military policy - legal system - police conduct - public discourse Key Concepts ruthlessness ethical erosion Questions to Reflect On - How does brutality affect civic trust? - What safeguards can prevent moral decay? A Different Perspective Peaceful conflict resolution is possible. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brutal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutal/) [Brutality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutality/) [Congress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/congress/) [Court](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/court/) [Great war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-war/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Policemen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/policemen/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Streets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streets/) [Tolerance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerance/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [To fight, you must be brutal and ruthless, and the spirit of ruthless brutality will enter into the very fibre of national life...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/to-fight-you-must-be-brutal-and-ruthless-and-the-spirit-of-ruthless/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [When somebody challenges you, fight back. Be brutal, be tough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/when-somebody-challenges-you-fight-back-be-brutal-be-tough/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [It has become a people's war, and peoples of all sorts and races, of every degree of power and variety of fortune, are involved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/it-has-become-a-people-s-war-and-peoples-of-all-sorts-and-races-of/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilizationitself seeming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/it-is-a-fearful-thing-to-lead-this-great-peaceful-people-into-war/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [This was not after all a conventional war, a struggle between equally predacious powers; it was a war to end all wars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/this-was-not-after-all-a-conventional-war-a-struggle-between-equally/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [The great war that broke so suddenly upon the world two years ago, and which has swept up within its flame so great a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-great-war-that-broke-so-suddenly-upon-the-world-two-years-ago-and/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [This is a war to end all wars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/this-is-a-war-to-end-all-wars/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/war-is-an-ugly-thing-but-not-the-ugliest-of-things-the-decayed-and/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [The capitalist can only make a whole people go to war . . . by capturing the popular will. The only prophylactic against that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-angell/the-capitalist-can-only-make-a-whole-people-go-to-war-by-capturing/) [Norman Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-angell/) > [“War kills people; war kills animals; war kills plants; war kills buildings; war kills even shadows, because it annihilates the owner of the shadow!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/war-kills-people-war-kills-animals-war-kills-plants-war-kills/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I was after a set of pictures, so that when people looked at them they would say, ‘This is war’-that the people who were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/i-was-after-a-set-of-pictures-so-that-when-people-looked-at-them-they/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [War is not one disaster of milions of people. War is milions of disasters of one person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-van-mierlo/war-is-not-one-disaster-of-milions-of-people-war-is-milions-of/) Hans Van Mierlo > [To lead uninstructed people to war is to throw them away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/to-lead-uninstructed-people-to-war-is-to-throw-them-away/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [I didn't like the '60s because it was too important what people who had nothing to do with the war thought about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-vonnegut/i-didn-t-like-the-60s-because-it-was-too-important-what-people-who/) [Mark Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-vonnegut/) > [When was the last time you saw a musical about people at war with each other?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-moreno/when-was-the-last-time-you-saw-a-musical-about-people-at-war-with/) [Rita Moreno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-moreno/) ## More by Woodrow Wilson > [If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/if-i-am-to-speak-ten-minutes-i-need-a-week-for-preparation-if-fifteen/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [There is here a great melting pot in which we must compound a precious metal. That metal is the metal of nationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/there-is-here-a-great-melting-pot-in-which-we-must-compound-a/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [One cannot pay the price of self-respect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/one-cannot-pay-the-price-of-self-respect/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [I would rather lose in a cause that will some day win, than win in a cause that will some day lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/i-would-rather-lose-in-a-cause-that-will-some-day-win-than-win-in-a/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [I have received delegations of working men who, apparently speaking with the utmost sincerity, have declared that they would regard it as a genuine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/i-have-received-delegations-of-working-men-who-apparently-speaking/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Absolute identity with one's cause is the first and great condition of successful leadership.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/absolute-identity-with-one-s-cause-is-the-first-and-great-condition/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [America cannot be an ostrich with its head in the sand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/america-cannot-be-an-ostrich-with-its-head-in-the-sand/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [...We are intensely proud of their noble record and are glad to have had the whole world see how irresistible they are in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/we-are-intensely-proud-of-their-noble-record-and-are-glad-to-have-had/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [ The facts of the case will always have the better of \[an\] argument. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-facts-of-the-case-will-always-have-the-better-of-an-argument/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [The greatest embarrassment of my political career has been that active duties seem to deprive me of time for careful investigation. I seem almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-greatest-embarrassment-of-my-political-career-has-been-that/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Some Americans need hyphens in their names because only part of them has come over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/some-americans-need-hyphens-in-their-names-because-only-part-of-them/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [The history of liberty is the history of limitations on the power of government, not the increase of it. When we resist, therefore, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-history-of-liberty-is-the-history-of-limitations-on-the-power-of/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [When I think of the flag… I see alternate strips of parchment upon which are written the rights of liberty and justice, and stripes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/when-i-think-of-the-flag-i-see-alternate-strips-of-parchment-upon/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if an hour, I am ready now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/if-i-am-to-speak-ten-minutes-i-need-a-week-for-preparation-if-an-hour/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Energy in a nation is like sap in a tree; it rises from bottom up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/energy-in-a-nation-is-like-sap-in-a-tree-it-rises-from-bottom-up/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) [Explore all 492 Woodrow Wilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) ## More Beats quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [So many things beat upon us in a lifetime that simply enduring may seem almost beyond us… But the test a loving God has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/so-many-things-beat-upon-us-in-a-lifetime-that-simply-enduring-may/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) > [The Beat Generation, that was a vision that we had, John Clellon Holmes and I, and Allen Ginsberg in an even wilder way, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-beat-generation-that-was-a-vision-that-we-had-john-clellon-holmes/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Certainly these are not easy times. But history does not contain very many easy times. Years from now, we will look back at this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ingraham/certainly-these-are-not-easy-times-but-history-does-not-contain-very/) [Laura Ingraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ingraham/) > [I usually write from the rhythm section...If a drummer got a funky beat on some things - like a half-shuffle or a shuffle or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-davis/i-usually-write-from-the-rhythm-section-if-a-drummer-got-a-funky-beat/) [Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-davis/) > [If you don't like club beats take a HIT OF E and you will love the music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mccarty/if-you-don-t-like-club-beats-take-a-hit-of-e-and-you-will-love-the/) [Kevin McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mccarty/) > [Every pitcher can beat you, it doesn't matter how good you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-bonds/every-pitcher-can-beat-you-it-doesn-t-matter-how-good-you-are/) [Barry Bonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-bonds/) > [Only two to three per cent of an audience is interested in words and pays attention to lyrics; most of the rest of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/only-two-to-three-per-cent-of-an-audience-is-interested-in-words-and/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [Joel Lane documents a life we don’t quite live, in a city we can’t quite find: half glimpsed and half imagined, we know it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-brenchley/joel-lane-documents-a-life-we-don-t-quite-live-in-a-city-we-can-t/) Chaz Brenchley > [Practice to beat the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-bennett/practice-to-beat-the-best/) [Dick Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-bennett/) > [I don't know about the rest of the world, but I know in our region everyone is gunning to beat us. We have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/landon-donovan/i-don-t-know-about-the-rest-of-the-world-but-i-know-in-our-region/) [Landon Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/landon-donovan/) > [Grand business plans are all very well, but nothing beats dipping your toe in the water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-bilimoria-karan-bilimoria/grand-business-plans-are-all-very-well-but-nothing-beats-dipping-your/) Baron Bilimoria Karan Bilimoria > [Let a man who has to make his fortune in life remember this maxim: Attacking is the only secret. Dare and the world yields,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/let-a-man-who-has-to-make-his-fortune-in-life-remember-this-maxim/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [Imagine if you were a drummer, and you accidentally picked up two magic wands instead of sticks. There you are, keeping the beat, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/imagine-if-you-were-a-drummer-and-you-accidentally-picked-up-two/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [I don't like small birds. They hop around so merrily outside my window, looking so innocent. but I know that secretly, they're watching my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-like-small-birds-they-hop-around-so-merrily-outside-my-window/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 3,311 Beats quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Once lead this people into war, and they'll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance. 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