In politics, it seems, retreat is honorable if dictated by military considerations and shameful if even suggested for ethical reasons.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Retreating from battle is seen as noble for military reasons but shameful for ethical ones.
- In plain terms
- Soldiers can retreat for war reasons without shame but not for moral ones.
- What can you take from it?
- Moral retreat is judged more harshly than strategic retreat.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is ethical retreat ever honorable?
- Why do we value strategy over morality?
Another view
It ignores cases where strategy and ethics overlap.
More from Mary McCarthy
I'm afraid I'm not sufficiently inhibited about the things that other women are inhibited about for me. They feel that you've given away trade secrets.
Permalink to quote #23 Calling someone a monster does not make him more guilty; it makes him less so by classing him with beasts and devils.
Permalink to quote #25 I am putting real plums into an imaginary cake.
Permalink to quote #22
Related quotes
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth a war, is…
John Stuart MillJohn Stuart Mill quote #4 Americans, sadly, are now victims who have turned into perpetrators. Indeed, since September 2001, the war on terror has claimed more innocent victims than tho…
George SorosGeorge Soros quote #5 You ask what I am for and what I am against in Spain. I would give my right hand of course to prevent the agony; I would not give a flick of my little finger t…
Robinson JeffersRobinson Jeffers quote #13