Quotes About Tactics

During bargaining talks, he always tried to maneuver the other side into saying yes as early and as often as possible.

They never see me coming. Know why? Because I'm already there.

Anger and blame are powerful weapons. The opposition knows that.

The Tories had the legal right to demand extra meetings of the council but I could decide when they would be held and always called them for Friday afternoons, knowing that three or four of the richer Tories went to the country early and were not prepared to stay in the city beyond lunchtime. I realised that nothing in politics is new when I read in Suetonius's The Twelve Caesars that Julius Caesar pulled the same trick when reactionaries in the senate were making his life difficult.

All rising to great place is by a winding stair; and if there be factions, it is good to side a man's self whilst he is in the rising, and to balance himself when he is placed.

Honesty is the best policy. But insanity is a hell of a lot more effective in court. So your set, McMullen

Fair play is all well and good. But knowing how to kick 'em in the balls can get you out of a jam 9 times out of 10.

A tactical retreat is not a bad response to a surprise assault, you know. First you survive. Then you choose your own ground. Then you counterattack.

A weapon is a device for making your enemy change his mind.

Let me explain something to you, he said. If you want to get something out of a man, dashing out his brains against a lamppost isn't the way to do it.

Knight takes Knight," I called into the cloudy night air. "Check.

Playing cat and mouse is generally only fun for the cat.

Know your enemy. Know yourself. Only then may you achieve victory.

You can't win a war sitting behind a wall and hoping the enemy decides to leave.

Wars and plans can't coexist, sir. One of them kills the other.

It takes calculation to win a duel against a reptile, and you've always been impatient.

That kind of subtle manipulation always works best amidst a flurry of distractions. Washington's been doing it like that for decades.

It is often very useful for others to think you less intelligent than you are, Benedict said, his tone amused. It works particularly well against those who aren't as intelligent as you in the first place.

None of us had known the layout to Marcone's place, so we'd chosen to approach from the rear, on general principles of sneakiness.

Strategy and tactics, discipline and protocol are necessary, but they're just the beginning. You have to know people, Byron. How they think, what motivates them. Watch. Learn.

That was the entire reason to have battle commanders in the first place—so that one man could balance the advantages of logic and reason against the emotional, insane demands of close battle.

Form up," I murmured, because it sounded more military and tougher than saying, "You guys go first.

I need a favor." I snorted. "What favor? You do remember that technically, we're at war, right? Wizards versus vampires? Ring any bells?" "If you like, you can pretend that I'm employing subversive tactics as part of a fiendishly elaborate ruse meant to manipulate you," Thomas said. "Good," I said. "Cause if I went through all the trouble of starting a war and you didn't want to participate, it would hurt my feelings .

No. We want to be in defilade. What you want to happen to them is to put them in enfilade.