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It is only to clear from history that states rarely keep faith with each other, save in so far (and so long) as their promises seem to them to combine with their interests.

B. H. Liddell Hart

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B. H. Liddell Hart
Age: 74 †
Born: 1895
Born: October 31
Died: 1970
Died: January 29
Historian
Journalist
Military Historian
Writer
Paris
France
Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart
Basil Henry Liddell Hart
Clear
Combine
Interest
Promises
Faith
Rarely
History
Interests
Keep
Save
Seems
Promise
States
Military
Long
Seem

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The military weapon is but one of the means that serve the purposes of war: one out of the assortment which grand strategy can employ.
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In reality, it si more fruitful to wound than to kill. While the dead man lies still, counting only one man less, the wounded man is a progressive drain upon his side.
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The downfall of civilized states tends to come not from the direct assaults of foes, but from internal decay combined with the consequences of exhaustion in war.
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The search for the truth for truth's sake is the mark of the historian.
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Avoid self-righteousness like the devil- nothing is so self-blinding.
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The theory of the indirect approach operates on the line of least expectation.
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The predominance of moral factors in all military decisions. On them constantly turns the issue of war and battle. In the history of war they form the more constant factors, changing only in degree, whereas the physical factors are different in almost every war and every military situation.
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The higher level of grand strategy [is] that of conducting war with a far-sighted regard to the state of the peace that will follow.
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In war the chief incalculable is the human will, which manifests itself in resistance, which in turn lies in the province of tactics. Strategy has not to overcome resistance, except from nature. Its purpose is to diminish the possibility of resistance, and it seeks to fulfil this purpose by exploiting the elements of movement and surprise.
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The urge to gain release from tension by action is a precipitating cause of war.
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It is thus more potent, as well as more economical, to disarm the enemy than to attempt his destruction by hard fighting ... A strategist should think in terms of paralysing, not of killing.
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War is always a matter of doing evil in the hope that good may come of it.
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With growing experience, all skillful commanders sought to profit by the power of the defensive, even when on the offensive.
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The most dangerous error is failure to recognize our own tendency to error.
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The more closely [the German army] converged on [Stalingrad], the narrower became their scope for tactical manoeuvre as a lever in loosening resistance. By contrast, the narrowing of the frontage made it easier for the defender to switch his local reserves to any threatened point on the defensive arc.
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For whoever habitually suppresses the truth in the interests of tact will produce a deformity from the womb of his thought.
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If you wish for peace, understand war.
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While the nominal strength of a country is represented by its numbers and resources, this muscular development is dependent on the state of its internal organs and nerve-system - upon its stability of control, morale, and supply.
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No man can exactly calculate the capacity of human genius and stupidity, nor the incapacity of will.
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The implied threat of using nuclear weapons to curb guerrillas was as absurd as to talk of using a sledge hammer to ward off a swarm of mosquitoes.
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