Today’s maxim seems particularly appropriate, given recent discussions about Iraq and the potential for military conflict with Iran and North Korea.
The worst enemy of someone who begins a war is his belief in easy victory. For no matter how simple and certain it appears, a war is subject to a thousand accidents. And the confusion these accidents create will be even greater if they happen to someone who has not prepared his mind and his forces for them–preparations he would have made if he had considered the war difficult from the start. (Series C, 180)
Carter and Perry, I think, should take note.
Filed as: Guicciardini and maxims
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