The errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst. - Carl von Clausewitz

If, adhering closely to the absolute, we try to avoid all difficulties by a stroke of the pen, and insist with logical strictness that in every case the extreme must be the object, and the utmost effort must be exerted in that direction, such a stroke of the pen would be a mere paper law, not by any means adapted to the real world.

...only a fraction of book learning will seep into practical life anyhow; and the more foolish the theory, the less of it.

...any move made in a state of tension will be of more important, and will have more results, than it would have made in a state of equilibrium. In times of maximum tension this importance will rise to an infinite degree.