| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Lysis by Plato: son he will commit to us?
That is very true, Socrates, he replied.
Then now, my dear Lysis, I said, you perceive that in things which we know
every one will trust us,--Hellenes and barbarians, men and women,--and we
may do as we please about them, and no one will like to interfere with us;
we shall be free, and masters of others; and these things will be really
ours, for we shall be benefited by them. But in things of which we have no
understanding, no one will trust us to do as seems good to us--they will
hinder us as far as they can; and not only strangers, but father and
mother, and the friend, if there be one, who is dearer still, will also
hinder us; and we shall be subject to others; and these things will not be
Lysis |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Pocket Diary Found in the Snow by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: Once he left a revolver here by mistake. But I hid it so the lady
wouldn't see it, and gave it to the gentleman the next time he
came. He was angry at that, though I couldn't see why, and said I
shouldn't have touched it."
The woman had told her story with much hesitation, and stopped
altogether at this point. She had evidently suddenly realised that
the lady was not insane, but only in great despair, and that people
in such a state will often seek death, particularly if any weapon
is left conveniently within their reach.
"What did this gentleman look like?" asked Muller, to start her
talking again. She described her tenant as very tall and stout
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Cavalry General by Xenophon: [5] Lit. "form your decads (squads of ten; cf. our 'fours') in ranks
and deploy with intervals."
To come to the next topic: you may work on the enemy's fears by the
various devices of mock ambuscades, sham relief parties, false
information. Conversely, his confidence will reach an overweening
pitch, if the idea gets abroad that his opponents have troubles of
their own and little leisure for offensive operations.
But over and beyond all that can be written on the subject--
inventiveness is a personal matter, beyond all formulas--the true
general must be able to take in, deceive, decoy, delude his adversary
at every turn, as the particular occasion demands. In fact, there is
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