"No proceeding is better than that which..." - Quote by Niccolo Machiavelli
No proceeding is better than that which you have concealed from the enemy until the time you have executed it. To know how to recognize an opportunity in war, and take it, benefits you more than anything else. Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many. Discipline in war counts more than fury.
More by Niccolo Machiavelli
“And here one must not that hatred is acquired just as much by means of good actions as by bad ones; and so, as I said above, if a prince wishes to maintain the state, he is often obliged not to be good; because whenever that group which you believe you need to support you is corrupted, whether it be the common people, the soldiers, or the nobles, it is to your advantage to follow their inclinations in order to satisfy them; and then good actions are your enemy.”
“All the armed prophets conquered; all the unarmed ones perished.”
“One never finds anything perfectly pure and ... exempt from danger.”
More on Strategy
“You mentioned the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets because the nature of our military has changed. We have these things called aircraft carriers where planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines.”
“My nonviolence does recognize different species of violence, defensive and offensive.”
“A victorious general must know how to employ severity, justness, and mildness by turns, if he would allay sedition or prevent it.”