Direct experience is inherently too limited to form an adequate foundation either for theory or for application. At the best it produces an atmosphere that is of value in drying and hardening the structure of thought. The greater value of… — B. H. Liddell Hart Copy Share
For whoever habitually suppresses the truth in the interests of tact will produce a deformity from the womb of his thought. — B. H. Liddell Hart Copy Share Image
The downfall of civilized states tends to come not from the direct assaults of foes, but from internal decay combined with the consequences of… — B. H. Liddell Hart Copy Share Image
The implied threat of using nuclear weapons to curb guerrillas was as absurd as to talk of using a sledge hammer to ward off… — B. H. Liddell Hart Copy Share Image
In war the chief incalculable is the human will, which manifests itself in resistance, which in turn lies in the province of tactics. Strategy… — B. H. Liddell Hart Copy Share Image
In a campaign against more than one state or army, it is more fruitful to concentrate first against the weaker partner than to attempt… — B. H. Liddell Hart Copy Share Image
I used to think that the causes of war were predominantly economic. I came to think that they were more psychological. I am now… — B. H. Liddell Hart Copy Share Image
While the nominal strength of a country is represented by its numbers and resources, this muscular development is dependent on the state of its… — B. H. Liddell Hart Copy Share Image
If we clear the air of the fog of catchwords which surround the conduct of war, and grasp that in the human will lies the source and mainspring of all conflict, as of all other activities of man's life, it becomes clear that our object in war can only be attained by the subjugation of the opposing will. All acts,… — B. H. Liddell Hart Copy Share
The unexpected cannot guarantee success, but it guarantees the best chance of success. — B. H. Liddell Hart Copy Share Image
Guerrilla war is a kind of war waged by the few but dependent on the support of many. — B. H. Liddell Hart Copy Share Image
The art of the indirect approach can only be mastered, and its full scope appreciated, by study of and reflection upon the whole history of war. But we can at least crystallize the lessons into two simple maxims- one negative, the other positive. The first is that, in face of the overwhelming evidence of history, no general is justified in… — B. H. Liddell Hart Copy Share
It is only to clear from history that states rarely keep faith with each other, save in so far (and so long) as their… — B. H. Liddell Hart Copy Share Image
