Oliver Goldsmith Quotes

The one who figures on victory at headquarters before even doing battle is the one who has the most strategic factors on his side.

The secret of success in battle lies often not so much in the use of one's own strength but in the exploitation of the other side's weaknesses.

The man who is prepared has his battle half fought.

A good front is half the battle in love or war.

The bow is tactically strong at the commencement of battle, especially battles on a moor, as it is possible to shoot quickly among the spearmen.

Knowledge is a Weapon, Jon. Arm yourself well before you ride forth to Battle.

It is often possible to decide the issue of a battle merely by making an unexpected shift of one's main weight.

[The] aim is not so much to seek battle as to seek a strategic situation so advantageous that if it does not of itself produce the decision, its continuation by a battle is sure to achieve this. In other words, dislocation is the aim of strategy.

A battle can be won before it's ever fought by choosing the right ground.

There's a quote that says, 'If you know yourself and you know your opponent, you shouldn't fear the results of 100 battles.' Just really being prepared gives you a lot of confidence.

When you determine to risk a battle, reserve to yourself every possible chance of success, more particularly if you have to deal with an adversary of superior talent, for if you are beaten, even in the midst of your magazines and your communications, woe to the vanquished!

Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all.

You have to stick to your guns and still know when to be flexible. That's something I've had to learn-which battles to fight.

Do what's right, first. Don't sit around and wait for someone else to do the right thing first.

Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.

No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. Not when the enemy is me.

Waterloo is a battle of the first rank won by a captain of the second

I've always thought of myself as being a warrior. When you actually have a battle, it's better than when you don't know who to fight.

Charges of cavalry are equally useful at the beginning, the middle and the end of a battle. They should be made always, if possible, on the flanks of the infantry, especially when the latter is engaged in front.

I shall await the first shot, and if you do not batter us to pieces, we shall be starved out in a few days.

Those who exert the first influence upon the mind have the greatest power.

After he routed Pharnaces Ponticus at the first assault, he wrote thus to his friends: "I came, I saw, I conquered.

Cavalry is useful before, during, and after the battle.

Only the defeated know LOVE. because it is in the realm of love that we fight our first battles - and generally lose.

It is often the easiest move that completes the game. Fortune is like the lady whom a lover carried off from all his rivals by putting an additional lace upon his liveries.