Quotation by

Walter Bagehot

So long as war is the main business of nations, temporary despotism - despotism during the campaign - is indispensable.
War

Advertisement

Understanding this quote AI Analysis

Walter Bagehot means that when countries focus primarily on fighting wars, they must accept strict and absolute control by leaders during the conflict. This temporary concentration of power is necessary to make quick decisions and maintain order in the chaos of war.

More by this author

All quotes by Walter Bagehot →

More quotes about War

See all →
He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.
One of the greatest casualties of the war in Vietnam is the Great Society... shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam.
The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.

Advertisement

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.
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hill…