List of Herman Kahn Quotes

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.

Anything That Reduces War-related Destruction Should Not Be Considered Altogether Immoral.

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.

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.

There Was No Race - But To The Extent That There Was An Arms Competition, It Was Almost Entirely On The Soviet Side, First To Catch Up And Then To Surpass The Americans.

I Am Against The Whole Cliche Of The Moment.

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.

Nevertheless, During The Sixty Years Of The Twentieth Century Many Problems Have Come Increasingly Into The Realm Of Acceptable Public Discussion.

New Developments In Weapon Systems During The 1950s And Early 1960s Created A Situation That Was Most Dangerous, And Even Conducive To Accidental War.

I'm Against Ignorance.

Only Those Who Are Ideologically Opposed To Military Programs Think Of The Defense Budget As The First And Best Place To Get Resources For Social Welfare Needs.

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.