I have always said that a conference was held for one reason only, to give everybody a chance to get sore at everybody else. Sometimes it takes two or three conferences to scare up a war, but generally one will do it.

Summary

This quote suggests that conferences often serve as platforms for conflicts and tensions among participants to arise. The speaker humorously implies that people tend to become upset with each other during conferences. Additionally, they highlight the idea that in certain cases, multiple conferences may be needed to escalate disagreements into a full-blown war, although usually just one conference can achieve this. Overall, the quote critiques the contentious nature of conferences and the potential they have to escalate conflicts.