All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal.

The line frames war not as an inevitable feature of human nature but as evidence of a breakdown in the very capacity that distinguishes humans: reflective thought. Calling man a “thinking animal” implies that reason, empathy, and foresight should enable alternatives to violence—negotiation, imagination, and moral restraint. By labeling war a “symptom,” the quote also suggests deeper underlying causes (fear, greed, dehumanization, failed institutions) that manifest in armed conflict. The statement is both an indictment and a challenge: if war signals a failure of thought, then preventing it requires cultivating better thinking—ethical, critical, and collective—rather than merely better weapons or tactics.