A leader who doesn't hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader.

The saying frames reluctance—not eagerness—as a moral prerequisite for legitimate political authority in matters of war. It suggests that the gravity of sending citizens to fight and die demands hesitation, deliberation, and an acute awareness of human cost; a leader who feels no pause is either reckless, insulated from consequences, or insufficiently empathetic. The quote also implies a standard of accountability: war should be a last resort, entered only after exhausting alternatives and weighing necessity against suffering. Attributed to Golda Meir, it resonates with the dilemmas faced by heads of government in security crises, but its broader significance is a universal ethic of restraint in statecraft.