“It should be the aim of grand strategy to discover and pierce the Achilles' heel of the opposing government's power to make war. Strategy, in turn, should seek to penetrate a joint in the harness of the opposing forces. To apply one's strength where the opponent is strong weakens oneself disproportionately to the effect attained. To strike with strong effect, one must strike at weakness.” ShouldWarGovernmentTurnsStrongForceEffectsMilitaryWeaknessAimStrategyOneselfStrikesOpponentsHeelsJointsPenetrateOpposingPierceHarnessAchillesWar StrategyAchilles Heel Author:B. H. Liddell Hart
“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.” ThinkingShouldWellsHardFightingTermEnemyMilitaryDestructionKillingStrategist Author:B. H. Liddell Hart
“To ensure attaining an objective, one should have alternate objectives. An attack that converges on one point should threaten, and be able to diverge against another. Only by this flexibility of aim can strategy be attuned to the uncertainty of war.” ShouldWarAbleMilitaryShould HaveAimStrategyObjectivesUncertaintyFlexibility Author:B. H. Liddell Hart
“The blurring of the line between policy and strategy] encouraged soldiers to make the preposterous claim that policy should be subservient to their conduct of operations, and (especially in democratic countries) it drew the statesman on to overstep the definite border of his sphere and interfere with his military employees in the actual use of their tools.” ShouldCountryUseLinesMilitaryPolicyToolsClaimsStrategyDemocraticSoldierOperationsBordersEmployeeSpheresInterfereDefiniteStatesmenSubservientDemocratic Country Author:B. H. Liddell Hart
“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.” ShouldReasonForceGreaterConditionsMilitaryBalanceEssentialsAimStrategyOneselfUsualDrainsAdopting Author:B. H. Liddell Hart
“An army should always be so distributed that its parts can aid each other and combine to produce the maximum possible concentration of force at one place, while the minimum force necessary is used elsewhere to prepare the success of the concentration.” ShouldUsedForceMilitaryProduceArmyAidsConcentrationElsewhereMinimumMaximum Author:B. H. Liddell Hart
“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.” IfsWayShouldWarStrongForceLinesPrinciplesMilitaryPolicyPositionResistanceOpponentsClimbsRetreatLadders Author:B. H. Liddell Hart
“A commander should have a profound understanding of human nature, the knack of smoothing out troubles, the power of winning affection while communicating energy, and the capacity for ruthless determination where require by circumstances. He needs to generate an electrifying current, and to keep a cool head in applying it.” NeedsShouldHumansWinningEnergyUnderstandingTroubleHuman NatureCircumstancesCapacityDeterminationShould HaveProfoundAffectionCurrentsCommunicateCommandersRuthlessKnack Author:B. H. Liddell Hart
“In should be the duty of every soldier to reflect on the experiences of the past, in the endeavor to discover improvements, in his particular sphere of action, which are practicable in the immediate future.” ShouldActionPastParticularDutySoldierImprovementEndeavorSpheres Author:B. H. Liddell Hart
“Ensure that both plan and dispositions are flexible, adaptable to circumstances. Your plan should foresee and provide for a next step in case of success or failure.” ThinkingShouldNextStepsCasesPlansCircumstancesDispositionFlexibleNext StepsSuccess Or FailureAdaptableThinking Flexibly Author:B. H. Liddell Hart
