Explore powerful quotes deconstructing the causes of war, offering insights into the hidden motives behind violent conflict.
by Taylor O’Connor | 26 September 2024
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
War is often surrounded by layers of deception and propaganda, making it difficult to grasp why violent conflicts occur or why specific wars are waged. The true reasons for both initiating and sustaining wars are frequently hidden from the public. While none of us claim to hold all the answers, one way to better understand the causes of war is to seek insights from some of the great thinkers throughout history.
By studying how these philosophers and other wise persons from around the world have analyzed past conflicts, we can begin to draw lessons that help us understand the causes of wars of today. Below, I’ve compiled 31 quotes that explore the causes of war, offering perspectives that can help us deconstruct these motives and hopefully inspire others to work toward preventing future wars. Understanding the causes of war is essential for fostering peace and mobilizing efforts to end violent conflict.
Key messages on the causes of war
In reviewing the quotes for this blog analyzing the causes of war I have identified some key themes. Many emphasize the manipulation by leaders who, through coercion and cowardice, wage wars that they themselves do not fight. Instead, they exploit the youth and manipulate the public, turning war into a game of self-interest, where those in power remain detached from its brutal consequences. War is portrayed as a tool wielded by the incompetent and the greedy, masking their failings and ambition behind a façade of necessity.
Money and greed also emerge as central themes, with war depicted as a profitable enterprise for those at the top, including leaders and arms manufacturers, while impoverishing the populations they claim to protect. As these quotes suggest, war is not just about power or ideology, but about financial gain, sustained by a global military-industrial complex that thrives on conflict. The quotes collectively expose the moral and economic bankruptcy of war, critiquing its devastating impact on those who are forced to fight, while a select few reap enormous profits.
Quotes analyzing the causes of war
Below you will find 31 quotes analyzing the causes of war.
I have split them into three groups:
- Quotes on those who wage war
- Militarism and money
- Quotes on war, injustice and inequality
- Quotes on false perspectives and beliefs as causes of war
Quotes on those who wage war
Quotes below discuss war as a tool of incompetent leaders who manipulate their people into fighting a war on their behalf. Some discuss the cowardice of leaders who wage war, while others focus on the coercive tactics employed by leaders to wage war and their exploitation of young people to fight wars.
“War is the statesman’s game, the priest’s delight, the lawyer’s jest, the hired assassin’s trade.” – Percy Bysshe Shelley (Poet, 1792 – 1822)
“There are no warlike people, just warlike leaders.” – Ralph Bunche (Political scientist, diplomat, 1904 – 1971, USA)
“All wars are wars among thieves who are too cowardly to fight and who therefore induce the young manhood of the whole world to do the fighting for them.” – Emma Goldman (Writer, activist, 1869 – 1940, Canada)
“I’m fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.” – George McGovern (Politician, 1922 – 2012, USA)
“War is a quarrel between two thieves too cowardly to fight their own battle; therefore they take boys from one village and another village, stick them into uniforms, equip them with guns, and let them loose like wild beasts against each other.” – Thomas Carlyle (Writer, historian, philosopher, 1795 – 1881, Scotland)
“I hate those men who would send into war youth to fight and die for them; the pride and cowardice of those old men, making their wars that boys must die.” – Mary Roberts Rinehart (Writer, 1876 – 1958, USA)
“All violence consists in some people forcing others, under threat of suffering or death, to do what they do not want to do.” – Leo Tolstoy (Writer, 1828 – 1910, Russia)
Militarism and money
Quotes below focus on money as a driving force for war and militarism. They discuss the profit in war and how leaders and weapons manufacturers advocate for war to reap a profit. They talk about the immense amounts of money needed to wage maintain militaries and to wage war. And some discuss war as a profitable enterprise, as the business of war.
“All wars are fought for money.” – Socrates (Philosopher, 470 BC – 399 BC, Greece)
“To wage war, you need first of all money; second, you need money, and third, you also need money.” – Raimondo Montecuccoli (Military leader, 1609 – 1680, Austria)
“The sinews of war are infinite money.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero (Philosopher, writer, 106 BC – 43 BC, Roman Republic)
“The first and most imperative necessity in war is money, for money means everything else — men, guns, ammunition.” – Ida Tarbell (Educator, journalist, writer, 1857 – 1944, USA)
“The two decisive powers of the government with respect to war are the power to conscript and the power to tax.” – A.J. Muste (Theologian, activist, writer, 1885 – 1967, Netherlands and USA)
“War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.” – Major General Smedley Darlington Butler (Military leader, 1881 – 1940, USA)
Quotes on war, injustice and inequality
Quotes in this section discuss the inequality produced by war, whereas leaders and war profiteers reap huge profits, those who fight in war suffer and die, while local populations suffer as money is diverted from essential goods and services. Some discuss the violence of militarism and how militarism produces poverty amongst the population even when there is no war to wage.
“How can one not speak about war, poverty, and inequality when people who suffer from these afflictions don’t have a voice to speak?” – Isabel Allende (Writer, 1942 – present, Chile and USA)
“Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich.” – Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (Actor, filmmaker, writer, 1921 – 2004, England)
“Hungry people cannot be good at learning or producing anything, except perhaps violence.” – Pearl Bailey (Actress, singer, writer, 1918 – 1990, USA)
“The arms race can kill, though the weapons themselves may never be used, by their cost alone, armaments kill the poor by causing them to starve.” – Vatican statement to the U.N., 1976
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower (Former President of the United States, 1890 – 1969, USA)
“May we look upon our treasure, the furniture of our houses, and our garments, and try to discover whether the seeds of war have nourishment in these our possessions.” – John Woolman (Journalist, abolitionist, 1720 – 1772, England)
“War prosperity is like the prosperity that an earthquake or a plague brings.” – Ludwig von Mises (Economist, historian, sociologist, 1881 – 1973, Austria)
“The essence of so-called war prosperity: it enriches some by what it takes from others. It is not rising wealth but a shifting of wealth and income.” – Ludwig von Mises (Economist, historian, sociologist, 1881 – 1973, Austria)
“In all wars the object is to protect or to seize money, property and power, and there will always be wars so long as Capital rules and oppresses people.” – Ernst Friedrich (Writer, activist, 1894 – 1967, Germany)
“Poverty is the worst form of violence.” – Mohandas Gandhi (Activist, lawyer, 1869 – 1948, India)
Quotes on false perspectives and beliefs as causes of war
Quotes in this section discuss how ignorance, incompetence, self-interest and greed are key drivers of war. Some describe war as a principle cause of war, that those who want to wage war do so because they want war, so they create false reasons to wage war.
“The cause of violence is not ignorance. It is self-interest.” – Rev. William Sloan Coffin Jr
“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” – Isaac Asimov (Biochemist, writer, 1920 – 1992, Russia and USA)
“I went into the Army believing that if you want peace you must prepare for war. I now believe that if you prepare thoroughly for war you will get it.” – Sir John Frederick Maurice (Military leader, 1841 – 1912, England)
“War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.” – Thomas Mann (Writer, philanthropist, 1875 – 1955, Germany)
“Much violence is based on the illusion that life is a property to be defended and not to be shared.” – Henri Nouwen (Theologian, writer, 1932 – 1996, Netherlands)
“The principal cause of war is war itself.” – C. Wright Mills (Sociologist, 1916 – 1962, USA)
Understand the causes of war and build peace
As we reflect on the insights from these 31 quotes, it becomes clear that understanding the true causes of war is a powerful step toward fostering peace. By learning from historical and contemporary thinkers, we can begin to challenge the hidden motives and deceptions that fuel conflict.
I hope this collection has provided you with valuable perspectives to help deconstruct the reasons behind wars, both past and present. Let these insights inspire you to further educate others, advocate for peace, and support the global efforts to end war.
If you like this article, check out my other one that included many more war quotes: 121 Quotes that Analyze the Nature of War and Violence
Also, if you have a quote that you think I should add to this list, please CLICK HERE to share it with me.
And be sure to sign up for our newsletter (the best peacebuilding newsletter out there!) to get connected with all the best articles, videos, podcast episodes, events, downloads, learning opportunities, and other resources on building peace published each week, selected from a broad array of global efforts to build peace. Subscribe by clicking HERE.
