Quotes About Strategy

Information is the coin of war.

Surprise was their greatest weapon. He didn't want to give it up without a very good reason.

They think they are smart and powerful because they have contrived to use my gift to put up the boundary to lure us to this place. What they have actually done is to attract lightning, and that lightning is about to strike them down.

Like it or not, the aggressor makes the rules. You must play by them, or you will surely die by them.

to think of the solution—and not the problem.

Think about the solution, he told himself, not the problem;

Whut's the plan, Rob? said one of them. OK lads, this is what we'll do. As soon as we see somethin', we'll attack it. Right? The best plans are the simplest ones ...

Speak softly and employ a huge man with a crowbar.

Why bother with a cunning plan when a simple one will do?

Bishops move diagonally. That's why they often turn up where the kings don't expect them to be.

A weapon you held and didn't know how to use belonged to your enemy.

It is always useful to face an enemy who is prepared to die for his country, he read. This means that both you and he have exactly the same aim in mind.

The thing about football - the important thing about football - is that it is not just about football.

The consensus seemed to be that if really large numbers of men were sent to storm the mountain, then enough might survive the rocks to take the citadel. This is essentially the basis of all military thinking.

He hated games they made the world look too simple. Chess, in particular, had always annoyed him. It was the dumb way the pawns went off and slaughtered their fellow pawns while the king lounged about doing nothing. If only the pawns would've united ... the whole board could've been a republic in about a dozen moves.

Peace?' said Vetinari. 'Ah, yes, defined as period of time to allow for preparation for the next war.

It is a long-cherished tradition among a certain type of military thinker that huge casualties are the main thing. If they are on the other side then this is a valuable bonus.

He thought about how it might be to be, say, a fox confronted with an angry sheep. A sheep moreover, that could afford to employ wolves.

Cats are like witches. They don't fight to kill, but to win. There is a difference. There's no point in killing an opponent. That way, they won't know they've lost, and to be a real winner you have to have an opponent who is beaten and knows it. There's no triumph over a corpse, but a beaten opponent, who will remain beaten every day of the remainder of their sad and wretched life, is something to treasure.

How do you get all those coins? asked Mort. IN PAIRS.

It's like chess, you know. The Queen saves the King.

Vimes had got around to a Clean Desk policy. It was a Clean Floor strategy that eluded him at the moment.

The second mouse gets the cheese!

Most of the gods throw dice but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out until too late that he's been using two queens all along. Fate wins.