M
Me,myself,and,I
Guest
C'mon let's not make this political.
Great quotes
- Thread starter Bobbtjoe
- Start date
- Status
madviking
north american scum
"Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not, then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies." - Col. Kurtz
Singularity
Infinite Density
"A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open."
Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Dai Chuanxian: "If you were anyone but Madame Sun [Yat-sen], we would cut your head off."
Sòng Qìnglíng: "If you were the revolutionaries you claim to be, you'd cut it off anyway."
-From Sterling Seagrave, The Soong Dynasty
Sòng Qìnglíng: "If you were the revolutionaries you claim to be, you'd cut it off anyway."
-From Sterling Seagrave, The Soong Dynasty
Republican China is a most interesting period.
"When we fight, we first use bullets;
When the bullets are gone we use bayonets;
When the bayonets are dull, we use the rifle barrel;
When this is broken, we use our fists;
When our fists are broken, we bite."
- Motto of the 大刀队 (Big Sword Unit) of General Feng Yuxiang.
"When we fight, we first use bullets;
When the bullets are gone we use bayonets;
When the bayonets are dull, we use the rifle barrel;
When this is broken, we use our fists;
When our fists are broken, we bite."
- Motto of the 大刀队 (Big Sword Unit) of General Feng Yuxiang.
Yared
That Guy
"Ask not for a lighter burden. Ask for broader shoulders."
The British, meanwhile, sharpen their bayonets.
imperialman
Admiral
"We always have been, we are, and I hope that we always shall be detested in France." - Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
imperialman
Admiral
"Firstly you must always implicitly obey orders, without attempting to form any opinion of your own regarding their propriety. Secondly, you must consider every man your enemy who speaks ill of your king; and thirdly you must hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil." - Horatio Nelson, to a midshipman aboard the Agamemnon (1793)
Depressingly like Theirs not to reason why, Theirs not to make reply, Theirs but to to do and die. Approximately 100 years later, another of the greatest of the British officers - the Lord Roberts - would set out the following, which is a cornerstone of the doctrine of just about every modern army:
Success in war cannot be expected unless all ranks have been trained in peace to use their wits. Generals and Commanding Officers are therefore not only to encourage their subordinates by affording them constant opportunities of acting on their own responsibilities, but they must also check all practices which interfere with the free exercise of their judgement, and will break down by every means in their power the paralysing bait of an unreasonable and mechanical adherence to the letter of orders and to routine.
imperialman
Admiral
I do remember reading that one of the strengths of the Royal Navy in this period was the ability of Captains to improvise (perhaps not the right word) with regards to carrying out their orders, there was indeed some flexibility. Oh and yes, HMS Agamemnon.
Eh. The Royal Navy liked to think it was Nelsonic and that it had erased the "pernicious" influence of the reviled Fighting Instructions, but hahahahahahaha
Believe it or not, the biggest gripe of the modern, educated junior officer is that the military may preach 'mission command' and the virtues of allowing junior commanders to exercise their own judgement, but Commanding Officers still insist on controlling what goes on down to very low level. And Roberts was speaking in 1902!
"Ships gone, Mindaros dead, men starving; don't know what to do."
-Hippokrates, Spartan navarchos [admiral; Mindaros' second-in-command], message to Sparta, following the battle of Kyzikos (410 BC)
Xen. Hellenika I.1.23
-Hippokrates, Spartan navarchos [admiral; Mindaros' second-in-command], message to Sparta, following the battle of Kyzikos (410 BC)
Xen. Hellenika I.1.23
Message from beseiged Irish soldiers in Jadotville, Congo, 1961:
We will hold out until our last bullet is spent. Could do with some whiskey!
Singularity
Infinite Density
"You are quicker turning a small boat around than a big ship”
- Steingrimur Sigfusson, 2011.
- Steingrimur Sigfusson, 2011.
I've never heard that one before. I like it.
On the topic of bureaucracy:
"I should have known you would refuse to follow proper procedure and come here. And I did know. Which is why I came here." - Morgan Proctor, Bureaucrat Grade 19.
- Status
