| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Cavalry General by Xenophon: Xenophon," translated, with chapters on the Greek Riding-Horse,
and with notes, by Morris H. Morgan, p. 76.
On occasions when the display takes place in the hippodrome,[16] the
best arrangement would be, in the first place, that the troops should
fill the entire space with extended front, so forcing out the mob of
people from the centre;[17] and secondly, that in the sham fight[18]
which ensues, the tribal squadrons, swiftly pursuing and retiring,
should gallop right across and through each other, the two hipparchs
at their head, each with five squadrons under him. Consider the effect
of such a spectacle: the grim advance of rival squadrons front to
front; the charge; the solemn pause as, having swept across the
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: resentment and brings an avalanche of ruin upon his head."]
18. When the general is weak and without authority; when
his orders are not clear and distinct;
[Wei Liao Tzu (ch. 4) says: "If the commander gives his
orders with decision, the soldiers will not wait to hear them
twice; if his moves are made without vacillation, the soldiers
will not be in two minds about doing their duty." General Baden-
Powell says, italicizing the words: "The secret of getting
successful work out of your trained men lies in one nutshell--in
the clearness of the instructions they receive." [3] Cf. also
Wu Tzu ch. 3: "the most fatal defect in a military leader is
The Art of War |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Lucile by Owen Meredith: To his old easy, careless existence of yore
He could not. He felt that for better or worse
A change had pass'd o'er him; an angry remorse
Of his own frantic failure and error had marr'd
Such a refuge forever. The future seem'd barr'd
By the corpse of a dead hope o'er which he must tread
To attain it. Life's wilderness round him was spread,
What clew there to cling by?
He clung by a name
To a dynasty fallen forever. He came
Of an old princely house, true through change to the race
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