"It is inhuman to continue a war which could easily be ended"
About this Quote
Friedrich Durrenmatt, the Swiss playwright of The Visit and The Physicists, often exposed how systems convert ordinary people into accessories to cruelty. His stark declaration that it is inhuman to continue a war which could easily be ended is both moral indictment and ethical instruction. The force lies in the word inhuman: to persist in organized killing when a clear path to peace exists is to step outside the minimum requirements of shared humanity, replacing empathy with calculation.
Easily does not mean trivially. It points to those situations where a settlement, ceasefire, or compromise is plainly within reach, yet blocked by pride, face-saving, profits, or the political gains of prolonging conflict. Durrenmatt knew the postwar world of proxy wars, colonial struggles, and nuclear brinkmanship, where leaders often treated lives as pieces on a chessboard. From the neutral vantage of Switzerland, he cultivated a moral clarity that cut through the fog of realpolitik and the grand narratives that justify delay.
The line resonates with just war thinking: once the legitimate aims are met or unattainable, proportionality and right intention demand cessation. Continuing for advantage or inertia becomes a violation not only of prudence but of the human. His dramas depict communities rationalizing the unacceptable; the machinery of bureaucracy and the seductions of necessity make the worst choices feel inevitable. War, conducted at a distance by technicians and administrators, encourages a numbness that makes continuation easier precisely when stopping is most urgent.
There is a challenge here to policymakers and publics alike. When channels for negotiation are open, when verified steps could halt suffering, deferral is complicity. The sentence shames the familiar excuses that postpone ceasefires and stretch talks while civilians pay the price. It also gestures beyond battlefields toward any preventable harm we allow to persist for convenience or profit. Durrenmatt urges the refusal of fatalism and the courage to act when the humane path is already visible.
Easily does not mean trivially. It points to those situations where a settlement, ceasefire, or compromise is plainly within reach, yet blocked by pride, face-saving, profits, or the political gains of prolonging conflict. Durrenmatt knew the postwar world of proxy wars, colonial struggles, and nuclear brinkmanship, where leaders often treated lives as pieces on a chessboard. From the neutral vantage of Switzerland, he cultivated a moral clarity that cut through the fog of realpolitik and the grand narratives that justify delay.
The line resonates with just war thinking: once the legitimate aims are met or unattainable, proportionality and right intention demand cessation. Continuing for advantage or inertia becomes a violation not only of prudence but of the human. His dramas depict communities rationalizing the unacceptable; the machinery of bureaucracy and the seductions of necessity make the worst choices feel inevitable. War, conducted at a distance by technicians and administrators, encourages a numbness that makes continuation easier precisely when stopping is most urgent.
There is a challenge here to policymakers and publics alike. When channels for negotiation are open, when verified steps could halt suffering, deferral is complicity. The sentence shames the familiar excuses that postpone ceasefires and stretch talks while civilians pay the price. It also gestures beyond battlefields toward any preventable harm we allow to persist for convenience or profit. Durrenmatt urges the refusal of fatalism and the courage to act when the humane path is already visible.
Quote Details
| Topic | Peace |
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