strategic restraint Quotes

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.

You must bear constantly in mind not to hazard unnecessarily your command ... but be content to accomplish all the good you can, without feeling it necessary to obtain all that might be desired.

Alexander esteemed it more kingly to govern himself than to conquer his enemies.

This is not the time for critical experiments which would have a highly destructive effect on morale.

I don't believe that China, in my lifetime or maybe my children's lifetime, be equal to the United States militarily speaking, but they are very careful to avoid any engagement in war, they are basically a peaceful country, which gives them another advantage over the United States when we are much more inclined to go to war for various reasons.

Prudent and active men, who know their strength and use it with limit and circumspection, alone go far in the affairs of the world.

The United States derives its power partly from restraining itself.

A mature and great power will make measured and limited use of its power.

In war, discipline can do more than fury.

Sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make.

I've learnt that it is important not to go over the top with aggression, because then either you are going to miss a lot of games, or you are not going to be concentrating on the game you are playing.

Obama does seem to have what both FDR and Lincoln had, which is the recognition that you have to hold back at times and then wait to come forward.

I consider it a mark of great prudence in a man to abstain from threats or any contemptuous expressions, for neither of these weaken the enemy, but threats make him more cautious, and the other excites his hatred, and a desire to revenge himself.

A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity.

Fate handed Barack Obama the best of all political gifts - a dyspeptic, surly, spiteful opposition on the one hand and very unpopular financiers on the other - and he wouldn't come out punching, name names, or go for the jugular. It was as if while getting mugged by guys with brass knuckles, he turned the other cheek. He even jeopardized his pledge to preserve women's rights under Roe v. Wade in order to get a health care bill written by the corporate lapdog Max Baucus and the gang of revolving door mercenaries he hired to write a bill friendly to industry.

Abstinence from all injustice to other major powers is a greater tower of strength than anything that can be gained by the sacrifice of permanent tranquility for a seeming temporary advantage.

Wise men say nothing in dangerous times.

The sublimity of administration consists in knowing the proper degree of power that should be exerted on different occasions.

With regard to power, women don't have the vanity men have. They don't need to make power visible, they only want the power to give them the other things they want. Security. Food. Enjoyment. Revenge. Peace. They are rational, power-seeking planners, who think beyond the battle, beyond the victory celebrations. And because they have an inborn capacity to see weakness in their victims, they know instinctively when and how to strike. And when to stop. You can't learn that.

Gaps can be very emotional. I mean, that's in my drumming. When I drum, you know, I don't need to drum all over the track. I play with the singer and I can back off.

There is often, in the affairs of government, more efficiency and wisdom in non-action than in action.

We had a pretty good lead, so why push it.

I think that's why my career is going to be so long: Because I haven't given people everything.

As for pupils, I can have as many as I choose, but I do not choose to take many. I intend to be better paid than others, and so I wish to have fewer scholars. It is advisable to hang back a little at first, or it is all over with you, and you must pursue the common highway with the rest.

Though the object of being a Great Power is to be able to fight a Great War, the only way of remaining a Great Power is not to fight one.