"I don't think we should ever be at war. That's kind of naive, I suppose"
About this Quote
A soft-spoken idealism lands harder when it admits its own vulnerability. “I don’t think we should ever be at war” is an absolute statement from someone whose job is performance, not policy; it’s the kind of moral clarity pop culture rarely risks because it’s so easy to dunk on. Then Sandy Duncan pivots: “That’s kind of naive, I suppose.” The second sentence isn’t a retreat so much as a preemptive flinch, a little shield held up against the hecklers in the room.
The intent is less to win an argument than to reveal a baseline instinct: war feels like a human failure, not a necessary instrument. By tagging it as “naive,” Duncan shows she knows the script we’re all handed: grown-ups accept war as inevitable, and anyone who doesn’t is sentimental. That self-correction functions as cultural self-surveillance, the way public figures often smooth down their own convictions to avoid sounding preachy, unserious, or out of their lane.
It also hints at the era-spanning fatigue behind the line. For a performer who came of age with Vietnam, lived through the Cold War’s constant threat, and watched post-9/11 militarism harden into background noise, “ever” reads like exhaustion as much as idealism. The subtext is: I’m not blind to geopolitics; I’m tired of our imagination stopping at force.
What makes it work is the quiet contradiction. She voices a radical hope, then marks it as socially unacceptable, letting listeners feel the cramped space where anti-war sentiment is permitted only if it apologizes for itself.
The intent is less to win an argument than to reveal a baseline instinct: war feels like a human failure, not a necessary instrument. By tagging it as “naive,” Duncan shows she knows the script we’re all handed: grown-ups accept war as inevitable, and anyone who doesn’t is sentimental. That self-correction functions as cultural self-surveillance, the way public figures often smooth down their own convictions to avoid sounding preachy, unserious, or out of their lane.
It also hints at the era-spanning fatigue behind the line. For a performer who came of age with Vietnam, lived through the Cold War’s constant threat, and watched post-9/11 militarism harden into background noise, “ever” reads like exhaustion as much as idealism. The subtext is: I’m not blind to geopolitics; I’m tired of our imagination stopping at force.
What makes it work is the quiet contradiction. She voices a radical hope, then marks it as socially unacceptable, letting listeners feel the cramped space where anti-war sentiment is permitted only if it apologizes for itself.
Quote Details
| Topic | Peace |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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