“Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.”

— Thomas Hobbes

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Thomas Hobbes 97

English philosopher, born 1588 1588–1679

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“War isn't a fraud, Charlie, it's very real.”

Paddy Chayefsky (1923–1981) American playwright, screenwriter and novelist

Emily Barham
The Americanization of Emily (1964)
Context: War isn't a fraud, Charlie, it's very real. At least that's what you always tried to tell me, isn't it? That we shall never get rid of war by pretending it's unreal? It's the virtue of war that's the fraud, not war itself. It's the valor and the self-sacrifice and the goodness of war that needs the exposing. And here you are being brave and self-sacrificing, positively clanking with moral fervor, perpetuating the very things you detest merely to do "the right thing". Honestly, Charlie, your conversion to morality is really quite funny. All this time I've been terrified of becoming Americanized, and you, you silly ass, have turned into a bloody Englishman