There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense

“There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights.” Thus spoke Major General Smedley Butler, one of the most decorated soldiers in American history, a man who had seen the cost of war not in theory but in the blood and anguish of men. In these solemn words, Butler did not glorify battle—he sanctified restraint. He declared that the sword should only be drawn for two sacred causes: the protection of the hearth, and the preservation of liberty. For beyond these, he saw that war becomes not honor but folly, not courage but greed dressed in patriot’s clothing.

The origin of this quote lies in the transformation of Butler’s own heart. After decades of service, having fought in wars across the world—from the Caribbean to China, from Mexico to France—he came to see that much of what he had fought for had not been the defense of home or freedom, but the advancement of power and profit. In his later years, he became a prophet of conscience, a warrior turned truth-teller, crying out against the corruption of those who would use the blood of soldiers to enrich the few. His words were not born of weakness, but of wisdom purchased through pain.

When Butler speaks of the defense of our homes, he invokes the oldest and purest instinct of mankind. The home is the sanctuary of life itself—the place where love is born, where the innocent sleep, where one’s ancestors are remembered and one’s children are protected. To fight for home is not to fight for conquest, but for survival, for the very foundation of peace. A man who defends his home fights not for pride or power, but for the right to exist in dignity and safety. The soil upon which one’s home stands is sacred, not because of its riches, but because it holds the memory of those who have loved upon it.

But Butler did not stop there. He joined the defense of the Bill of Rights—that divine charter of freedom that guards the conscience and dignity of every citizen. For to him, liberty was the soul of the nation, as the home is its heart. Without the Bill of Rights—without the freedom to speak, to think, to believe, to stand equal before the law—there can be no true homeland worth defending. He saw clearly that to lose these rights is to lose everything, even if one’s cities and borders remain intact. The tyrant may call himself protector, but when he tramples the rights of the people, he becomes the destroyer of the very thing he claims to guard.

History offers countless examples of those who forgot Butler’s wisdom. Empires have fallen not from lack of armies, but from betrayal within, from those who traded liberty for power, security for submission. Rome lost its republic not to foreign enemies, but to the rise of Caesar’s will over the people’s rights. Likewise, in our own age, nations crumble when they place profit or pride above the sacred duty of protecting both home and freedom. Butler’s warning, though spoken generations ago, resounds for every age: that we must discern between wars of defense and wars of ambition—between the shield and the sword of tyranny.

And yet, his words are not merely political—they are moral. Each person has a “home” and a “Bill of Rights” within their own soul. The home is the inner sanctuary of truth, where conscience dwells. The Bill of Rights is the soul’s integrity—the freedom to think rightly, to act justly, to love without fear. To fight for these within ourselves is as noble as to defend them in the world. The true warrior, Butler reminds us, is not one who loves conflict, but one who guards what is sacred from the corruption of violence, deceit, and greed.

The lesson, then, is clear and enduring: fight only for what is holy. Defend your home—both the physical and the spiritual—from the invader who would destroy peace. Defend your freedom, the divine right to live as a moral and thinking being. But turn away from wars that serve vanity, ambition, or profit, for such battles consume the soul. Let your courage be tempered by wisdom, and your strength guided by love. For the true measure of a people is not how fiercely they fight, but what they fight for.

So, O sons and daughters of liberty, remember the teaching of Smedley Butler: fight not for gold or glory, but for the quiet dignity of your home and the sacred flame of your rights. Guard them as you would your very breath, and you will stand among the wise. For when all empires fade and all kings fall, it is these two things—the home and freedom—that endure, shining like twin stars in the dark sky of history.