# Who said this terrific quote about war/peace? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 18, 2001, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-this-terrific-quote-about-war-peace/88304 "2001-10-18T21:35:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-this-terrific-quote-about-war-peace/88304/1 "2001-10-18T21:35:14Z")
I once read a boffo quote in, IIRC, one of Bruce Catton’s (?) books about the start of the Civil War. I tried finding it on Google and in a military quote book, but I came up emptyhanded. The line, I think, came from a retribution-seeking Northern politician or general (maybe right after Ft. Sumter) in response to those who still sought to avert a war with the South. He said: **"We will make a silence and call it peace."** Or something like that. Does anyone know the exact quote, speaker (or author), date and circumstances? I may want to use the line in the next few days/weeks and I want to get it right. Thanks all. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-this-terrific-quote-about-war-peace/88304/2 "2001-10-18T21:41:34Z")
The Roman historian Tacitus says of the Roman conquest of Britain that “they [the Roman army] created a desolation, and called it peace”. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-this-terrific-quote-about-war-peace/88304/3 "2001-10-18T21:50:31Z")
“Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appelant”: where they make a desert, they call it peace. (Tacitus is quoting Galgacus, a Caledonian [Scottish] chief) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-this-terrific-quote-about-war-peace/88304/4 "2001-10-18T21:58:16Z")
Apologies for the triple post, but I just wanted to point out that “solitudinum” is variously translated as solitude, silence, desert, and desolation in different English versions of the quote. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-this-terrific-quote-about-war-peace/88304/5 "2001-10-18T22:06:36Z")
Wow-wee, this is getting interesting. **Colibri** thank you for your speedy and well-researched reply. Much as I like the Tacitus/Galgacus quote, I’m pretty certain that “make a silence…” is what I read, and that it dates from the Civil War period. (No doubt, though, the “silence” speaker derived his words from the Tacitus/Galgacus quote.) So, does anyone know more about the source of the “silence” quote? [fixed coding] [Edited by bibliophage on 10-19-2001 at 01:46 AM] ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-this-terrific-quote-about-war-peace/88304/6 "2001-10-18T22:09:14Z")
Ah ha! Thanks again Colibri. The thot plickens. And beat me into solitudinum for my stupid bolding screw-up. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-this-terrific-quote-about-war-peace/88304/7 "2001-10-18T22:13:23Z")
Oh, and I wrote my overbolded post before I read Colibri’s third reply. That explains why it looked like I was ignoring him/her. Sorry, C. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-this-terrific-quote-about-war-peace/88304/8 "2001-10-19T15:10:01Z")
Him, **stuyguy**. 😉 I checked _Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations_ last night, and the only cite listed is that for Tacitus. It may well have been recycled during the Civil War, but I can’t find anything on the web either. The only Bruce Catton book I have is _Mr. Lincoln’s Army_, and there doesn’t seem to be anything there.