A war is not won if the defeated enemy has not been turned into a friend.
Interpretation
True victory in conflict requires reconciliation and friendship with former adversaries.
This quote by Eric Hoffer emphasizes that mere military victory does not equate to a successful outcome in war. To truly win a conflict, there must be a transformation of the enemy, where they become allies or friends, fostering peace and cooperation rather than lingering animosity. This reflects a deeper understanding of human relationships and the importance of unity after conflict.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech at a peace conference, emphasizing the need for understanding post-conflict.
Language was invented to ask questions. Answers may be given by grunts and gestures, but questions must be spoken. Humanness came of age when man asked the first question. Social stagnation results not from a lack of answers but from the absence of the impulse to ask questions.
Faith in humanity, in posterity, in the destiny of one's religion, nation, race, party or family-what is it but the visualization of that eternal something to which we attach the self that is about to be annihilated?
You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
Our frustration is greater when we have much and want more than when we have nothing and want some. We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing.
Our credulity is greatest concerning the things we know least about.
Perhaps a modern society can remain stable only by eliminating adolescence, by giving its young, from the age of ten, the skills, responsibilities, and rewards of grownups, and opportunities for action in all spheres of life. Adolescence should be a time of useful action, while book learning and scholarship should be a preoccupation of adults.
-I am not sure whether he's sane. -If there's any doubt about the matter, he is.
From the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable.
For then only will you be strong, when you cherish the laws, and when the revolutionary attempts of lawless men shall have ceased.
I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies.
Let us say what we feel, and feel what we say; let speech harmonize with life.
Neurotic identity crises come when our defense mechanisms have been too successful and we're encapsulated in the fortress we have constructed with nothing to refresh us in our solitary confinement. So we play the old movies with their stale fears and their unrealistic hopes until we become bored enough to risk disarmament and engagement.
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