The excessive use of force creates legitimacy problems, and force without legitimacy leads to defiance, not submission. - Malcolm Gladwell

All war is absurd. For thousands of years, human beings have chosen to settle their differences by obliterating one another. And when we are not obliterating one another, we spend an enormous amount of time and attention coming up with better ways to obliterate one another the next time around. It’s all a little strange, if you think about it.

Success is not a random act. It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities,

"when you remove time," de becker says, "you are subject to the lowest-quality intuitive reaction"