Herman Kahn Quotes

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All quotes by Herman Kahn: Decisions Nuclear War Nuclear Weapons War more...
  • Nuclear weapons are intrinsically neither moral nor immoral, though they are more prone to immoral use than most weapons.

    Herman Kahn (1985). “Thinking Unth 80SP”, p.31, Simon and Schuster
  • As for total disarmament, there are almost 50,000 nuclear weapons in the world today; even if they were banned, not all would be destroyed.

    Herman Kahn (1985). “Thinking Unth 80SP”, p.25, Simon and Schuster
  • Because of new technologies, new wealth, new conditions of domestic life and of international relations, unprecedented criteria and issues are coming up for national decision.

  • I'm against fashionable thinking.

  • In 1960 I published a book that attempted to direct attention to the possibility of a thermonuclear war, to ways of reducing the likelihood of such a war, and to methods for coping with the consequences should war occur despite our efforts to avoid it.

    Herman Kahn, Paul Dragoș Aligică, Kenneth R. Weinstein (2009). “The Essential Herman Kahn: In Defense of Thinking”, p.10, Lexington Books
  • Risk-taking is the essence of innovation.

  • Failures of perspective in decision-making can be due to aspects of the social utility paradox, but more often result from simple mistakes caused by inadequate thought.

    Herman Kahn, Paul Dragoș Aligică, Kenneth R. Weinstein (2009). “The Essential Herman Kahn: In Defense of Thinking”, p.208, Lexington Books
  • Many people believe that the current system must inevitably end in total annihilation. They reject, sometimes very emotionally, any attempts to analyze this notion.

    Herman Kahn, Paul Dragoș Aligică, Kenneth R. Weinstein (2009). “The Essential Herman Kahn: In Defense of Thinking”, p.17, Lexington Books
  • In a world which is armed to its teeth with nuclear weapons, every quarrel or difference of opinion may lead to violence of a kind quite different from what is possible today.

  • My guess is that nuclear weapons will be used sometime in the next hundred years, but that their use is much more likely to be small and limited than widespread and unconstrained.

    Herman Kahn, Paul Dragoș Aligică, Kenneth R. Weinstein (2009). “The Essential Herman Kahn: In Defense of Thinking”, p.31, Lexington Books
  • Anything that reduces war-related destruction should not be considered altogether immoral.

    Herman Kahn, Paul Dragoș Aligică, Kenneth R. Weinstein (2009). “The Essential Herman Kahn: In Defense of Thinking”, p.33, Lexington Books
  • Authority is not power; that's coercion. Authority is not knowledge; that's persuasion, or seduction. Authority is simply that the author has the right to make a statement and to be heard.

  • A healthy and fully functioning society must allocate its resources among a variety of competing interests, all of which are more or less valid but none of which should take precedence over national security.

    Herman Kahn, Paul Dragoș Aligică, Kenneth R. Weinstein (2009). “The Essential Herman Kahn: In Defense of Thinking”, p.34, Lexington Books
  • A total nuclear freeze is counterproductive - especially now, when technology is rapidly changing and the Soviets have some important strategic advantages.

    Herman Kahn (1985). “Thinking Unth 80SP”, p.26, Simon and Schuster
  • Projecting a persuasive image of a desirable and practical future is extremely important to high morale, to dynamism, to consensus, and in general to help the wheels of society turn smoothly.

    Herman Kahn, Paul Dragoș Aligică, Kenneth R. Weinstein (2009). “The Essential Herman Kahn: In Defense of Thinking”, p.260, Lexington Books
  • World War I broke out largely because of an arms race, and World War II because of the lack of an arms race.

    Herman Kahn (1985). “Thinking Unth 80SP”, p.25, Simon and Schuster
  • For if enough people were really convinced that growth should be halted, and if they acted on that conviction, then billions of others might be deprived of any realistic hope of gaining the opportunities now enjoyed by the more fortunate.

    People  
    Herman Kahn, William Morle Brown, Léon Martel (1976). “The next 200 years: a scenario for America and the world”, William Morrow & Company
  • Clearly, the first task is to gain acceptance of a more reasonable view of the future, one that opens possibilities rather than forecloses them.

  • It may literally turn out that a Hottentot, an educated and literate Hottentot it is true, but one who is a member of a relatively primitive society, would be able to make bombs.

  • It is immoral from almost any point of view to refuse to defend yourself and others from very grave and terrible threats, even as there are limits to the means that can be used in such defense.

    Herman Kahn (1985). “Thinking Unth 80SP”, p.31, Simon and Schuster
  • The widespread diffusion of nuclear weapons would make many nations able, and in some cases also create the pressure, to aggravate an on-going crisis, or even touch off a war between two other powers for purposes of their own.

  • To the extent that these advanced weapons or their components are treated as articles of commerce, perhaps for peaceful uses as in the Plowshare program, their cost would be well within the resources available to many large private organizations.

  • For some years I have spent my time on exactly these questions - both in thinking about ways to prevent war, and in thinking about how to fight, survive, and terminate a war, should it occur.

    Herman Kahn, Paul Dragoș Aligică, Kenneth R. Weinstein (2009). “The Essential Herman Kahn: In Defense of Thinking”, p.11, Lexington Books
  • Nuclear war is such an emotional subject that many people see the weapons themselves as the common enemy of humanity.

    People  
    Herman Kahn (1985). “Thinking Unth 80SP”, p.31, Simon and Schuster
  • I am against the whole cliche of the moment.

  • From a scientific perspective there is some indication that a nuclear war could deplete the earth's ozone layer or, less likely, could bring on a new Ice Age - but there is no suggestion that either the created order or mankind would be destroyed in the process.

    Herman Kahn (1985). “Thinking Unth 80SP”, p.30, Simon and Schuster
  • Deterrence itself is not a preeminent value; the primary values are safety and morality.

    Herman Kahn, Paul Dragoș Aligică, Kenneth R. Weinstein (2009). “The Essential Herman Kahn: In Defense of Thinking”, p.35, Lexington Books
  • The objective of nuclear-weapons policy should not be solely to decrease the number of weapons in the world, but to make the world safer - which is not necessarily the same thing.

    Herman Kahn, Paul Dragoș Aligică, Kenneth R. Weinstein (2009). “The Essential Herman Kahn: In Defense of Thinking”, p.29, Lexington Books
  • Human and moral factors must always be considered. They must never be missing from policies and from public discussion.

    Herman Kahn, Paul Dragoș Aligică, Kenneth R. Weinstein (2009). “The Essential Herman Kahn: In Defense of Thinking”, p.24, Lexington Books
  • I'm against ignorance.

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  • We hope you have found the saying you were looking for in our collection! At the moment, we have collected 37 quotes from the Strategist Herman Kahn, starting from February 15, 1922! We periodically replenish our collection so that visitors of our website can always find inspirational quotes by authors from all over the world! Come back to us again!
    Herman Kahn quotes about: Decisions Nuclear War Nuclear Weapons War

    Herman Kahn

    • Born: February 15, 1922
    • Died: July 7, 1983
    • Occupation: Strategist