Simone Weil Quotes

The Iraqi forces are conducting the Mother of all Retreats.

Stepping out of the spotlight when it's prudent to do so is a good thing.

We have to pull back, and we have to recognize it.

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.

If you find your opponent in a strong position costly to force, you should leave him a line of retreat as the quickest way of loosening his resistance. It should, equally, be a principle of policy, especially in war, to provide your opponent with a ladder by which he can climb down.

When you're up against a superior enemy, sometimes it's okay to just bow out gracefully

From a position of this sort, if the enemy is unprepared, you may sally forth and defeat him. But if the enemy is prepared for your coming, and you fail to defeat him, then, return being impossible, disaster will ensue.

When we do go to combat, it should be with a defined mission and a plan for withdrawal.

I am like a snake who has already bitten. I retreat from a direct battle while knowing the slow effect of the poison.

Retreat itself is often a plan of resistance and may be a precursor of great bravery and sacrifice. Every retreat is not cowardice which implies fear to die.

If I could give advice to anyone, it would be that sometimes the best way you can fight a problem - and this is going to be a little bit controversial - is to not address it.

A masterful retreat is itself a victory.

Now-what’s our game plan?” Coach Hedge belched. He’d already had three espressos and a plate of doughnuts, along with two napkins and another flower from the vase on the table. He would’ve eaten the silverware, except Piper had slapped his hand. “Climb the mountain,” Hedge said. “Kill everything except Piper’s dad. Leave.” “Thank you General Eisenhower,” Jason grumbles.

It is good discretion not make too much of any man at the first; because one cannot hold out that proportion.

Doing nothing is sometimes one of the highest of the duties of man.

It was possibly the most circumspect advance in the history of military maneuvers, right down at the bottom end of the scale that things like the Charge of the Light Brigade are at the top of.

Sometimes doing nothing is doing something.

When the enemy advances, withdraw; when he stops, harass; when he tires, strike; when he retreats, pursue.

If you want to take down your opponent, you do it tactically, point by point.

Perhaps the most radical act we can commit is to stay home.

Sometimes the highest form of action is inaction.

nonviolence first changes the individual.

Sometimes the only way you can win is to stay out of the game.

The business of a general is to kick away the ladder behind soldiers when they have climbed up a height.

Part of being a winner is knowing when enough is enough