# Quote — J. William Fulbright, The Arrogance of Power

> A pre-emptive war in 'defense' of freedom would surely destroy freedom, because one simply cannot engage in barbarous action without becoming a barbarian, because one cannot defend human values by calculated and unprovoked violence without doing mortal damage to the values one is trying to defend.

- Author: [J. William Fulbright](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-william-fulbright.md)
- Book: [The Arrogance of Power](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-william-fulbright/the-arrogance-of-power.md)
- Page: 154
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._William_Fulbright#The_Arrogance_of_Power_(1966)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-william-fulbright/the-arrogance-of-power/a-pre-emptive-war

## More from this book

> In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not its taste, but its effect, ...

p. 25 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-william-fulbright/the-arrogance-of-power/in-a-democracy.md)

> There are two Americas. One is the America of Lincoln and Adlai Stevenson; the other is the America of Teddy Roosevelt and the modern superpatriots. One is generous and humane, the other narrowly egotistical; one is self-critical, the other self-righteous; one is sensible, the other romantic; one is good-humored, the other solemn; one is inquiring, the other pontificating; one is moderate, the other filled with passionate intensity; one is judicious and the other arrogant in the use of great power.

p. 245 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-william-fulbright/the-arrogance-of-power/there-are-two.md)

> The true mark of greatness is not stridency but magnanimity.

p. 199 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-william-fulbright/the-arrogance-of-power/the-true-mark.md)