Quotes from B. H. Liddell Hart

As has happened so often in history, victory had bred a complacency and fostered an orthodoxy which led to defeat in the next war.

The urge to gain release from tension by action is a precipitating cause of war.

Helplessness induces hopelessness, and history attests that loss of hope and not loss of lives is what decides the issue of war.

In should be the duty of every soldier to reflect on the experiences of the past, in the endeavor to discover improvements, in his particular sphere of action, which are practicable in the immediate future.

Every action is seen to fall into one of three main categories, guarding, hitting, or moving. Here, then, are the elements of combat, whether in war or pugilism.

No man can exactly calculate the capacity of human genius and stupidity, nor the incapacity of will.

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.

With growing experience, all skillful commanders sought to profit by the power of the defensive, even when on the offensive.

The most dangerous error is failure to recognize our own tendency to error.

Ensure that both plan and dispositions are flexible, adaptable to circumstances. Your plan should foresee and provide for a next step in case of success or failure.

Inflict the least possible permanent injury, for the enemy of to-day is the customer of the morrow and the ally of the future