"Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster"
- William Tecumseh Sherman
About this Quote
This quote by William Tecumseh Sherman is a warning versus the concept of making war simple and safe. He is recommending that any attempt to do so will ultimately cause embarrassment and disaster. This is since war is inherently dangerous and unpredictable, and any attempt to make it much easier or more secure will just result in a false complacency. War is a complex and disorderly event, and any attempt to simplify it will only lead to a lack of preparedness and an underestimation of the enemy. This can result in disastrous effects, as the unpreparedness and underestimation can result in a lack of triumph or perhaps a total defeat. For that reason, Sherman is warning versus any attempt to make war simple and safe, as it will only result in embarrassment and disaster.
"While civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them. It has created palaces, but it was not so easy to create noblemen and kings"