Nations don't make twelve-inch guns to shoot quail. They don't drop bombs in mid-Pacific lagoons to kill fish. War is inevitable until the time comes when nations give up their sovereign right to make war and learn to settle their problems peacefully." - Meaning and context.">
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Nations don't make twelve-inch guns to shoot quail. They don't drop bombs in mid-Pacific lagoons to kill fish. War is inevitable until the time comes when nations give up their sovereign right to make war and learn to settle their problems peacefully.

— Bill Downs

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Nations don't make twelve-inch guns to shoot quail. They don't drop bombs in mid-Pacific lagoons to kill fish. War is inevitable until the time comes when nations give up their sovereign right to make war and learn to settle their problems peacefully." in the context of "" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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#Bill Downs#nations#dont#war#twelveinch#midpacific#inevitable#peacefully#sovereign#problems#lagoons#settle
Bill Downs

About Bill Downs

William Randall Downs, Jr. (August 17, 1914 – May 3, 1978) was a Kansas City-born American broadcast journalist for CBS Radio and later ABC. He was best known for his work with Edward R. Murrow and was one of the original Murrow Boys.