The search for the truth for truth’s sake is the mark of the historian.
B. H. LIDDELL HARTThe more closely [the German army] converged on [Stalingrad], the narrower became their scope for tactical manoeuvre as a lever in loosening resistance. By contrast, the narrowing of the frontage made it easier for the defender to switch his local reserves to any threatened point on the defensive arc.
More B. H. Liddell Hart Quotes
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A complacent satisfaction with present knowledge is the chief bar to the pursuit of knowledge.
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No man can exactly calculate the capacity of human genius and stupidity, nor the incapacity of will.
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For the spread and endurance of an idea the originator is dependent on the self-development of the receivers and transmitters.
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In the case of a state that is seeking not conquest but the maintenance of its security, the aim is fulfilled if the threat is removed – if the enemy is led to abandon his purpose.
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In strategy the longest way round is often the shortest way there- a direct approach to the object exhausts the attacker and hardens the resistance by compression, whereas an indirect approach loosens the defender’s hold by upsetting his balance.
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The only thing harder than getting a new idea into the military mind is to get an old one out.
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While hitting one must guard … In order to hit with effect, the enemy must be taken off his guard.
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It is thus more potent, as well as more economical, to disarm the enemy than to attempt his destruction by hard fighting … A strategist should think in terms of paralysing, not of killing.
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The more usual reason for adopting a strategy of limited aim is that of awaiting a change in the balance of force … The essential condition of such a strategy is that the drain on him should be disproportionately greater than on oneself.
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With growing experience, all skillful commanders sought to profit by the power of the defensive, even when on the offensive.
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This high proportion of history’s decisive campaigns, the significance of which is enhanced by the comparative rarity of the direct approach, enforces the conclusion that the indirect is by far the most hopeful and economic form of strategy.
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Every action is seen to fall into one of three main categories, guarding, hitting, or moving. Here, then, are the elements of combat, whether in war or pugilism.
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While there are many causes for which a state goes to war, its fundamental object can be epitomized as that of ensuring the continuance of its policy – in face of the determination of the opposing state to pursue a contrary policy. In the human will lies the source and mainspring of conflict.
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In a campaign against more than one state or army, it is more fruitful to concentrate first against the weaker partner than to attempt the overthrow of the stronger in the belief that the latter’s defeat will automatically involve the collapse of the others.
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Direct pressure always tends to harden and consolidate the resistance of an opponent.
B. H. LIDDELL HART