Skip to content

Then what explains war among states? Rousseau's answer is really that war occurs because there is nothing to prevent it.

— Kenneth Waltz Man, the State, and War (1959)

Another quote →

Topics

War

More quotes by Kenneth Waltz

No system of balance functions automatically.

Man, the State, and War (1959)

In anarchy there is no automatic harmony.

Man, the State, and War (1959)

To build a theory of international relations on accidents of geography and history is dangerous.

Man, the State, and War (1959)

The most important causes of political arrangements and acts are found in the nature and behavior of man.

Man, the State, and War (1959)

Each man does seek his own interest, but, unfortunately, not according to the dictates of reason.

Man, the State, and War (1959)

All Kenneth Waltz quotes →

You may also like

All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

Albert Einstein Moral Decay (1937)

The last half of the 20th century will seem like a wild party for rich kids, compared to what's coming now.

Hunter S. Thompson

Only the dead have seen the end of war.

George Santayana Soliloquies in England and Later Soliloquies (1922)

Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true.

Ulysses S. Grant Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Kenneth Waltz (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.