“ Men who want to fight will always put themselves in the most advantageous conditions for fighting. ”
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace (1869). copy citation
| Author | Leo Tolstoy |
|---|---|
| Source | War and Peace |
| Topic | fight human condition |
| Date | 1869 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2600/2600-h/2600-h.htm |
Context
“That unknown quantity is the spirit of the army, that is to say, the greater or lesser readiness to fight and face danger felt by all the men composing an army, quite independently of whether they are, or are not, fighting under the command of a genius, in two—or three-line formation, with cudgels or with rifles that repeat thirty times a minute. Men who want to fight will always put themselves in the most advantageous conditions for fighting.
The spirit of an army is the factor which multiplied by the mass gives the resulting force. To define and express the significance of this unknown factor—the spirit of an army—is a problem for science.”
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