Thursday, February 16, 2012

Carl Von Clausewitz on boldness...


 
An excerpt On War by Carl Von Clausewitz...

...Let us admit that boldness in war even has its own prerogatives. It must be granted a certain power over and above successful calculations involving space, time, and magnitude of forces, for whenever it is superior; it will take advantage of its opponent's weakness. In other words, it is a genuinely creative force. Whenever boldness encounters timidity, it is likely to be the winner, because timidity itself implies a loss of equilibrium. Boldness will be at a disadvantage only in an encounter with deliberate caution, which may be considered bold in its own right and is certainly just as powerful and effective; but such cases are rare. Timidity is the rood of prudence in the majority of men… The higher up the chain of command, the greater is the need for boldness to be supported by a reflective mind, so that boldness does not degenerate into purposeless bursts of blind passion...

1 comment: