Tony Judt Quotes Camus: “Mistaken ideas always end in bloodshed,” he wrote, “but in every case it is someone else’s blood.”
October 7, 2007 8:25 am War on Terror as Misguided MetaphorTony Judt, From Military Disaster to Moral High Ground - New York Times, October 7, 2007
In a democracy, war should always be the last resort - no matter how good the cause. “To jaw-jaw,” as Churchill reminded Eisenhower, “is always better than to war-war.” So the next time someone waxes lyrical for armed overseas intervention in the name of liberal ideals or “defining struggles,” remember what Albert Camus had to say about his fellow intellectuals’ propensity for encouraging violence to others at a safe distance from themselves. Albert Camus had to say about his fellow intellectuals’ propensity for encouraging violence to others at a safe distance from themselves. “Mistaken ideas always end in bloodshed,” he wrote, “but in every case it is someone else’s blood. That is why some of our thinkers feel free to say just about anything.”