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About this quote

What does it mean?
Hitchens admits that participating in the Iraq War made him personally happy.
In plain terms
He says the Iraq War made him happy.
What can you take from it?
Personal feelings can align with controversial actions.

Where it applies

  • memoir
  • personal reflection
  • public debate

Putting it to work

  • reflect on choices
  • analyze motives
  • discuss war

Questions to consider

  • How do emotions influence decisions?
  • Can war bring satisfaction?

Another view

Personal happiness does not justify the outcomes of war.

More from Christopher Hitchens

  1. I'm too old to shoulder a rifle in any meaningful sense myself. [15]

    Permalink to quote #90
  2. It pains me to hear that. He's gone back to nineteenth-century gunboat diplomacy -- go hit the wogs.

    Permalink to quote #92
  3. And if I didn't know better, I'd say they [the U.S. marines] were doing God's work. Let them fear us. That's the thing -- let them fear us. [14]

    Permalink to quote #89

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