“War is a culture, bellicosity is addictive, defeat for a community that imagines itself to be history's eternal victim can be as intoxicating as victory. How long will it take for the Serbs to realize that the Milosevic years have been an unmitigated disaster for Serbia, the net result of Milosevic's policies being the economic and cultural ruin of the entire region, including Serbia, for several generations? Alas, one thing we can be sure of, that will not happen soon.” YearsLongHas BeensWarHappensCultureRealizingCommunityResultsImagineGenerationsOne ThingEconomicPolicyVictoryEternalVictimIncludingDefeatDisasterRuinsRegionsAlasSerbia Author:Susan Sontag
“To judge by the event is an error all commit: for in every instance courage, if crowned with success, is heroism; if clouded by defeat, temerity. When Nelson fought his battle in the Sound, it was the result alone that decided whether he was to kiss a hand at court or a rod at a court-martial.” IfsHandsSuccessSoundResultsEventsJudgingBattleKissingDecidedCourtErrorsDefeatCommitInstanceHeroismNelsonClouded Book:Lacon: Or Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think Source: Lacon: Or Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
“It is worthy to note, that the early popularity of Washington was not the result of brilliant achievement nor signal success; on the contrary, it rose among trials and reverses, and may almost be said to have been the fruit of defeat.” MayHas BeensSaidResultsAchievementRoseNotesFruitDefeatWorthyBrilliantContraryTrialsPopularityReverseSignals Book:Life of George Washington Source: Life of George Washington
“Man... is an inextricable tangle of culture and biology. And not being simple, he is not simply good; he has... a kind of hell within him from which rise everlastingly the impulses which threaten his civilization. He has the faculty of imagining for himself more in the way of pleasure and satisfaction than he can possibly achieve. Everything that he gains he pays for in more than equal coin; compromise and the compounding with defeat constitute his best way of getting through the world. His best qualities are the result of a struggle whose outcome is tragic. Yet he is a creature of love.” MenWorldWayKindCultureSimplePleasureResultsPayQualityStruggleHellAchieveCivilizationCreaturesEqualGainsDefeatSatisfactionBest WayCompromiseImpulseOutcomesTragicBiologyFacultyCoins Author:Lionel
“One point in my public life: I did all I could for the reform of the civil service, for the building up of the South, for a soundcurrency, etc., etc., but I never forgot my party.... I knew that all good measures would suffer if my Administration was followed by the defeat of my party. Result, a great victory in 1880. Executive and legislature both completely Republican.” IfsPoliticalSufferingResultsPartyBuildingVictoryRepublicanSouthDefeatAdministrationReformEtcExecutivesPolitical PartiesPublic LifeLegislatureBuilding UpGreat VictoryCivil Service Author:Rutherford B. Hayes
“Early withdrawal from Iraq would result in unarguably, defeat and humiliation for the United States. There's no question. We would be defeated by definition. We would be humiliated in that defeat.” StatesWould BeUnitedResultsUnited StatesDefeatIraqDefinitionsDefeatedHumiliationHumiliatedWithdrawal Author:Howard Dean
“Early withdrawal from Iraq would result in unarguably, defeat and humiliation for the United States. There's no question. We would be defeated by definition. We would be humiliated in that defeat. I don't think there's any other way to argue it. Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing is a separate question.” ThinkingWayStatesWould BeUnitedResultsUnited StatesGood ThingsDefeatIraqDefinitionsArguingBad ThingsDefeatedHumiliationHumiliatedWithdrawal Author:Tucker Carlson