War & Peace Quote by Eamon de Valera

War, de Valera warns, rarely arrives with a drumroll. It slips in "as a thief in the night" - a phrase that borrows its chill from Biblical cadence, where the thief image signals suddenness, helplessness, and the shame of being caught unprepared. The line works because it reframes war not as a chosen contest of honor but as an intrusion: something done to a people, not something proudly embarked upon. That framing is political, not poetic.

As a statesman who navigated Ireland's hard-won sovereignty in a Europe edging toward catastrophe, de Valera had reason to dread both the external shock of great-power conflict and the internal strains it could exploit. The metaphor doubles as instruction. If war is a thief, the proper response is vigilance: lock the doors, keep watch, don’t romanticize danger. It quietly undercuts the glamor of martial rhetoric and the complacent belief that geography, neutrality, or good intentions can serve as security policy.

There’s subtext, too, about control and legitimacy. A thief violates the home; a nation at war becomes a home breached. De Valera positions his government as the night watchman - the one tasked with readiness and restraint - while also shifting blame in advance. If disaster comes, it won’t be because leaders sought it; it will be because history broke in. The genius of the line is its moral economy: it asks for discipline and preparedness without the intoxicating language of crusade.