It means that you have entirely grasped the
ideas of the leader who has given the order and that you take
every possible means of satisfying him. Discipline does not
mean silence, abstention, only doing what appears to you
possible without compromising yourself; it is not the practice
of the art of avoiding responsibilities. On the contrary, it
is action in the sense of orders received."
Fifteen years ago at the Ecole de Guerre General Foch was fond
of quoting Joseph de Maistre's remark, "A battle lost is a
battle which one believes to have lost, for battles are not
lost materially," and of adding, "Battles are therefore lost
morally, and it is therefore morally that they are won." The
aphorism can be extended by this one: "A battle won is a
battle in which one will not admit one's self vanquished." As
"Miles" remarks, "He did as he had said."
Ernest Dimnet in The London Saturday Review has this to say in part
about Foch and his two widely known books:
During his two terms of service at the Ecole de Guerre he
produced two considerable works, "Principes de la Guerre" and
"De la Conduite de La Guerre," which give a high idea of their
author's character and talent.
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