Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Churchill admits to finding intense personal satisfaction in war despite its devastating human cost.
In plain terms
He admits loving war for the thrill despite its destruction.
What can you take from it?
Personal passion can conflict with moral consequences.

Where it applies

  • ethical reflection
  • leadership review
  • historical study

Putting it to work

  • Examine personal bias
  • Weigh passion against cost
  • Acknowledge contradictions

Questions to consider

  • Can one love war responsibly?
  • What drives passion for conflict?

Another view

This view is controversial and ignores the suffering of others.

More from Winston Churchill

  1. The truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it, ignorance may deride it, malice may distort it, but there it is.

    Permalink to quote #19
  2. I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas. We have definitely adopted the position at the Peace Conference of arguing in favour of the retent…

    Permalink to quote #21
  3. The unnatural and increasingly rapid growth of the feeble-minded and insane classes, coupled as it is with a steady restriction among all the thrifty, energeti…

    Permalink to quote #18

Related quotes

  1. Well, it was war - I could not have carried on as an administrative officer if I had let myself be swayed emotionally by my feelings.

    Oswald PohlOswald Pohl quote #9
  2. A military man can scarcely pride himself on having 'smitten a sleeping enemy'; it is more a matter of shame, simply, for the one smitten. I would rather you m…

    Isoroku YamamotoIsoroku Yamamoto quote #1
  3. War is inevitable, and this time, it will be truly world wide. It will unravel everywhere and there will be no limit to its battlefields. The condemnations of …

    Otto SkorzenyOtto Skorzeny quote #1