“But I do not willingly involve us in nationalistic wars; the side of the angels is seldom self-evident.”

—  Robert A. Heinlein , book Friday

Source: Friday (1982), Chapter 4 (p. 37)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Nov. 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "But I do not willingly involve us in nationalistic wars; the side of the angels is seldom self-evident." by Robert A. Heinlein?
Robert A. Heinlein photo
Robert A. Heinlein 557
American science fiction author 1907–1988

Related quotes

Noam Chomsky photo

“Nobody is ever involved in an aggressive war; it's always a defensive war -- on both sides.”

Noam Chomsky (1928) american linguist, philosopher and activist

Interview by Tor Wennerberg, November 1998 http://www.chomsky.info/interviews/199811--.htm.
Quotes 1990s, 1995-1999
Context: No individual gets up and says, I'm going to take this because I want it. He'd say, I'm going to take it because it really belongs to me and it would be better for everyone if I had it. It's true of children fighting over toys. And it's true of governments going to war. Nobody is ever involved in an aggressive war; it's always a defensive war -- on both sides.

Donald J. Trump photo

“You know they have a word, it sort of became old-fashioned, it's called a nationalist,
And I say 'really, we're not supposed to use that word?' Do you know what I am? I'm a nationalist.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

22 October 2018, as reported 23 October 2018 by Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.in/trump-declares-himself-a-nationalist-while-stumping-for-ted-cruz/articleshow/66327534.cms
2010s, 2018, October

Bertrand Russell photo

“We have, in fact, two kinds of morality side by side; one which we preach but do not practise, and another which we practise but seldom preach.”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

Source: 1920s, Sceptical Essays (1928), Ch. 8: Eastern and Western Ideals of Happiness

Michel De Montaigne photo

“Confidence in another man's virtue is no light evidence of a man's own, and God willingly favors such a confidence.”

Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman

Book I, Ch. 14
Attributed
Variant: Confidence in the goodness of another is good proof of one's own goodness.

Koenraad Elst photo

“The existence of that temple had been a matter of consensus among Muslims, Europeans and Hindus, both nationalist and anti-nationalist, until the JNU professors issued their fatwa to disregard the evidence and deny history.”

Koenraad Elst (1959) orientalist, writer

2000s, Ayodhya, the Finale (2003)

“Perhaps not willingly, but pain can make a man do things he wouldn't willingly do.”

Anne Bishop (1955) American fiction writer

Source: Daughter of the Blood

Robert Charles Wilson photo

“I would confront the thieves, I thought, and the self-evident justice of my case would cause them to crumble before me. I don't know why I expected such extravagant results from the application of mere justice. That kind of calculation is seldom borne out by worldly events.”

Robert Charles Wilson book Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America

Source: Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America (2009), p. 217

John Connolly photo

“They were on the side of the angels, even if the angels weren't entirely sure that this was a good thing.”

John Connolly (1968) author

Source: The Reapers

Theodore Roosevelt photo

“Let us make it evident that we intend to do justice. Then let us make it equally evident that we will not tolerate injustice being done us in return. Let us further make it evident that we use no words which we are not which prepared to back up with deeds, and that while our speech is always moderate, we are ready and willing to make it good. Such an attitude will be the surest possible guarantee of that self-respecting peace, the attainment of which is and must ever be the prime aim of a self-governing people.”

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States

1900s, Speak softly and carry a big stick (1901)
Variant: Let us make it evident that we intend to do justice. Then let us make it equally evident that we will not tolerate injustice being done us in return. Let us further make it evident that we use no words which we are not which prepared to back up with deeds, and that while our speech is always moderate, we are ready and willing to make it good. Such an attitude will be the surest possible guarantee of that self-respecting peace, the attainment of which is and must ever be the prime aim of a self-governing people.

Related topics