"Invincibility depends on one's self; the enemy's vulnerability on him."
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War quotes
War
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War quotes (page 98 of 853)
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"There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefitted."
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"To conquer the enemy without resorting to war is the most desirable. The highest form of generalship is to conquer the enemy by strategy."
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"With regard to ground of this nature, be before the enemy in occupying the raised and sunny spots, and carefully guard your line of supplies. Then you will be able to fight with advantage."
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"The General who in advancing does not seek personal fame, and in withdrawing is not concerned with avoiding punishment, but whose only purpose is to protect the people and promote the best interests of his sovereign, is the precious jewel of the state."
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"Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy... use the conquered foe to augment one's own strength."
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"Do not press an enemy at bay."
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"If those who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves, the army is suffering from thirst."
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"Hence that general is skilful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skilful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack."
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"If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is to blame. But if his orders are clear, and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their officers."
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"The ultimate in disposing one's troops is to be without ascertainable shape. Then the most penetrating spies cannot pry in nor can the wise lay plans against you."
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"He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign."
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"The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers."
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"He whose ranks are united in purpose will be victorious."
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"To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence."
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"So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak. Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing."
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"My dad [Johnny Cash] went to the [Richard] Nixon White House and refused to sing "Welfare Cadillac" (instead performing the anti-war songs "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" and "Man in Black"). He protested the Vietnam War, but he went to perform for the troops with bombs dropping all around him. He had that kind of genius: a true artist's capacity for holding two opposing thoughts at once while being large enough to encompass all realities."
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"Jackson possessed the brutality essential in war; Lee did not. He could clasp the hand of a wounded enemy, whilst Jackson ground his teeth and murmured, 'No quarter to the violators of our homes and firesides', and when someone deplored the necessity of destroying so many brave men, he exclaimed: 'No, shoot them all, I do not wish them to be brave.'"
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"Nothing could have been more obvious to the people of the early twentieth century than the rapidity with which war was becoming impossible. And as certainly they did not see it. They did not see it until the atomic bombs burst in their fumbling hands."
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"History and war are cruel pedants. Those who know too little of the former are likely to have too much of the latter."
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