Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Highlights how rare peace has been in human history.
- In plain terms
- Humans have only been at peace for a tiny fraction of recorded history.
- What can you take from it?
- Conflict is the norm in human history, not peace.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why is peace so rare?
- How do we sustain peace longer?
Another view
Recorded history may not reflect earlier peaceful periods.
More from Chris Hedges
Most of these who are thrust into combat soon find it impossible to maintain the mythic perception of war.
Permalink to quote #4 We have to be clear that we don't know what's going on in Iraq.
Permalink to quote #6 As I looked out on the crowd, I was witnessing things I had witnessed in the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina or in squares in Belgrade: it breaks my heart when I se…
Permalink to quote #3
Related quotes
Only the dead have seen the end of war.
George SantayanaGeorge Santayana quote #35 Only one thing is more admirable than the admirable reply of the Saxon king: that an Icelander, a man of the lineage of the vanquished, has perpetuated the rep…
Jorge Luis BorgesJorge Luis Borges quote #112 For we that fight till the world is free, We are not easy in victory: We have known each other too long, my brother, And fought each other, the world and we.
Gilbert Keith ChestertonGilbert Keith Chesterton quote #177