Herman Kahn

against fashionable thinking

"I'm against fashionable thinking."

—Herman Kahn (1922-1983)

Russian dominationist push hard easy

"The Russians aren't dedicated world dominationists. You know, they just sort of want it on account of a sentimental way, you know, but not like 'By God, we got to have it!' It just doesn't make sense for them to really push too hard, you know, but just to push easy."

—Herman Kahn (1922-1983)

outcome benevolent intelligent decision disastrous dice cast

"The final outcome of benevolent, informed, and intelligent decisions may turn out to be disastrous. But choices must be made; dies must be cast."

—Herman Kahn (1922-1983)

risk-taking essence innovation

"Risk-taking is the essence of innovation."

—Herman Kahn (1922-1983)

nuclear weapon small limited

"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 (1922-1983)

against ignorance sloppy thinking fashionable

" I'm against ignorance. I'm against sloppy, emotional thinking. I'm against fashionable thinking. I am against the whole cliché of the moment."

—Herman Kahn (1922-1983)

nuclear war emotion weapon enemy humanity

"Nuclear war is such an emotional subject that many people see the weapons themselves as the common enemy of humanity."

—Herman Kahn (1922-1983)

authority power coercion knowledge persuation seduction

"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."

—Herman Kahn (1922-1983)

government committee decision attention suit

"A surprising number of government committees will make important decisions on fundamental matters with less attention than each individual would give to buying a suit."

—Herman Kahn (1922-1983)

human moral factors considered politics

"Human and moral factors must always be considered. They must never be missing from policies and from public discussion."

—Herman Kahn (1922-1983)

future reasonable view open possibility foreclose

"Clearly, the first task is to gain acceptance of a more reasonable view of the future, one that opens possibilities rather than forecloses them."

—Herman Kahn (1922-1983)

deterrence value safety morality

"Deterrence itself is not a preeminent value; the primary values are safety and morality."

—Herman Kahn (1922-1983)

nuclear weapon immoral prone use

"Nuclear weapons are intrinsically neither moral nor immoral, though they are more prone to immoral use than most weapons."

—Herman Kahn (1922-1983)