It is not only the living who are killed in war.
Interpretation
War affects not just those who die but also the living who endure its consequences.
Isaac Asimov's quote highlights the profound and lasting impact of war on individuals and society, suggesting that the repercussions of conflict extend beyond immediate casualties. It draws attention to the psychological, emotional, and social toll that war takes on survivors, emphasizing that the scars of violence endure long after the fighting has ceased.
In practice
During a memorial speech, one might reflect on the broader implications of conflict and use this quote to provoke thought.
Democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more and more people into the world, the value of life not only declines, but it disappears. It doesn't matter if someone dies.
Science does not promise absolute truth, nor does it consider that such a thing necessarily exists. Science does not even promise that everything in the Universe is amenable to the scientific process.
Democracy cannot survive overpopulation.
Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or (what would be considerably worse) going to the popularized version of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism.
A subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value.
During the century after Newton, it was still possible for a man of unusual attainments to master all fields of scientific knowledge. But by 1800, this had become entirely impracticable.
Death is a mystery, and burial is a secret.
You can tell if people are following Jesus, because they are fedding the poor, sharing their wealth, and trying to get everyone medical insurance.
Like sex in Victorian England, the reality of Big Business today is our big dirty secret.
From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.
Because philosophy arises from awe, a philosopher is bound in his way to be a lover of myths and poetic fables. Poets and philosophers are alike in being big with wonder.
The foes now are universal - poverty, famine, religious radicalization, desertification, drugs, proliferation of nuclear weapons, ecological devastation. They threaten all nations, just as science and information are the potential friends of all nations. Classical diplomacy and strategy were aimed at identifying enemies and confronting them. Now they have to identify dangers, global or local, and tackle them before they become disasters.
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