--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An agile, well-trained, brave elephant…" description: "\"“An agile, well-trained, brave elephant, ridden by a good mahout, its trunk armed with the kind of sabre known as a qartal and covered with chain mail,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/al-masudi-59675_battle_an-agile-well-trained-brave-elephant-rid_856985.jpg" --- # An agile, well-trained, brave elephant, ridden by a good… ![“An agile, well-trained, brave elephant, ridden by a good mahout, its trunk armed with the kind of sabre known as a qartal and covered with chain mail, while the rest of its body is protected by sheets of bark and iron, surrounded by 500 men to defend it and protect it to the rear, can fight…” quote by Al Masudi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/al-masudi-59675_battle_an-agile-well-trained-brave-elephant-rid_856985.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/al-masudi-59675_battle_an-agile-well-trained-brave-elephant-rid_856985.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/al-masudi-59675_battle_an-agile-well-trained-brave-elephant-rid_856985.jpg) > ““An agile, well-trained, brave elephant, ridden by a good mahout, its trunk armed with the kind of sabre known as a qartal and covered with chain mail, while the rest of its body is protected by sheets of bark and iron, surrounded by 500 men to defend it and protect it to the rear, can fight against 6000 men on horseback.”” [Al Masudi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-masudi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A well‑prepared, heavily armored elephant with skilled riders can hold off a vastly larger cavalry force. **In simple terms:** A strong, well‑defended force can beat many attackers. Key Takeaway Leverage superior preparation and protection. Themes strategy military tactics technology leadership Mood determined strategic Type historical military When to use this quote - historical battles - modern security planning - team building - resource allocation Key Concepts asymmetric warfare force multiplication defensive engineering Questions to Reflect On - How can you create a “elephant” in your own field? - What vulnerabilities exist in seemingly invincible defenses? A Different Perspective If the elephant is compromised, the whole defense collapses. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Battle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/battle/) [Brave Elephant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brave-elephant-811781/) [Elephant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elephant/) [Elephant Ridden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elephant-ridden-811780/) [Elephants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elephants/) [Horseback](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horseback/) [Men Horseback](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-horseback-509372/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [Orators are most vehement when they have the weakest cause, as men get on horseback when they cannot walk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/orators-are-most-vehement-when-they-have-the-weakest-cause-as-men-get/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [“He knew it was necessary to drive the French out, but he had always imagined that this would be done gloriously, with thousands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/he-knew-it-was-necessary-to-drive-the-french-out-but-he-had-always/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [The knife flaying the elephant does not have to be large, only sharp!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-norton/the-knife-flaying-the-elephant-does-not-have-to-be-large-only-sharp/) [Andre Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-norton/) > [The U.N. bureaucracy has grown to elephantine proportions. 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Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“An agile, well-trained, brave elephant, ridden by a good mahout, its trunk armed with the kind of sabre known as a qartal and covered with chain mail, while the rest of its body is protected by sheets of bark and iron, surrounded by 500 men to defend it and protect it to the rear, can fight against 6000 men on horseback.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Al Masudi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-masudi/an-agile-well-trained-brave-elephant-ridden-by-a-good-mahout-its/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-masudi/an-agile-well-trained-brave-elephant-ridden-by-a-good-mahout-its/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/al-masudi-59675_battle_an-agile-well-trained-brave-elephant-rid_856985.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/al-masudi-59675_battle_an-agile-well-trained-brave-elephant-rid_856985.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/al-masudi-59675_battle_an-agile-well-trained-brave-elephant-rid_856985.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An agile, well-trained, brave elephant, ridden by a good mahout, its trunk armed with the kind of sabre…” — Al Masudi", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Al Masudi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-masudi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“An agile, well-trained, brave elephant, ridden...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-masudi/an-agile-well-trained-brave-elephant-ridden-by-a-good-mahout-its/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-masudi/an-agile-well-trained-brave-elephant-ridden-by-a-good-mahout-its/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```