“It has been said that one bad general is better than two good ones, and the saying is true if taken to mean no more than that an army is better directed by a single mind, though inferior, than by two superior ones at variance and cross-purposes with each other. And the same is true in all joint operations wherein those engaged can have none but a common end in view and can differ only as to the choice of means.”

— Abraham Lincoln

1860s, First State of the Union address (1861)
Context: It has been said that one bad general is better than two good ones, and the saying is true if taken to mean no more than that an army is better directed by a single mind, though inferior, than by two superior ones at variance and cross-purposes with each other. And the same is true in all joint operations wherein those engaged can have none but a common end in view and can differ only as to the choice of means. In a storm at sea no one on board can wish the ship to sink, and yet not unfrequently all go down together because too many will direct and no single mind can be allowed to control.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Oct. 1, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "It has been said that one bad general is better than two good ones, and the saying is true if taken to mean no more tha…" by Abraham Lincoln?

Abraham Lincoln photo

Abraham Lincoln618

16th President of the United States 1809–1865

Related quotes

“It has generally been assumed that of two opposing systems of philosophy, e. g., realism and idealism, one only can be true and one must be false; and so philosophers have been hopelessly divided on the question, which is the true one.”

Morris Raphael Cohen (1880–1947) American philosopher

Source: The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 7, (1910), p. 407

“The point is that coordination can be achieved by either of two means: (1) with no one dictating anyone else's precise behavior, but everyone observing a set of rules, or (2) with someone (or perhaps more than one) directing the behavior of others. We refer to the first of the two means as coordination by rules and the second as coordination by command.”

Samuel Bowles (1939) American economist

Source: Understanding Capitalism: Competition, Command, and Change, 2005, p. 202

“It was no more nor less than true. You do things by doing things, not by not doing them. No more crazy upsidedownness, he resolved. Good was better than bad. Good environments are better than bad environments.”

Walker Percy book The Last Gentleman

The Last Gentleman (1966)

“All of us know the true meaning of freedom. Some of us appreciate it more than those who have been here for many generations.”

Gloria Estefan (1957) Cuban-American singer-songwriter, actress and divorciada

www.orlandosentinel.com (July 5, 2007)
2007, 2008

“An army to be useful must be a unit, and out of this has grown the saying, attributed to Napoleon, but doubtless spoken before the days of Alexander, that an army with an inefficient commander was better than one with two able heads.”

William T. Sherman (1820–1891) American General, businessman, educator, and author.

Letter to E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant-General (26 March 1869)
1860s, 1869, Letter to E.D. Townsend (March 1869)

“One always has a better book in one's mind than one can manage to get onto paper.”

Michael Cunningham (1952) American novelist and screenwriter

“Two of my fav pieces of wisdom from Phoebe:

- Men are like parking spots. All the good ones are taken, and those that aren't are inaccessible.

- Remember, it's always better to be the smartass rather than the dumbass.”

Jill Shalvis (1963) American writer

Source: Simply Irresistible

“One good Art's better than a thousand bad.”

John Ogilby (1600–1676) Scottish academic

Fab. LVII: Of the Fox and the Cat
The Fables of Aesop (2nd ed. 1668)

“It is better to be a good human being than to be a bad one. It is just naturally better.”

William Saroyan (1908–1981) American writer

My Heart's in the Highlands (1939)

“Such close observations of apes and birds and dolphins remind us that humanity is part of a great animal kingdom. All species within this kingdom differ from one another in significant ways, to be sure, but the kingdom does not seem to be organized on the superior/inferior hierarchy. Species are merely different from one another; they are not better than, nor more or less advanced than, each other. The core experience of all animal life is strikingly similar.”

Hugh Downs (1921) American broadcaster

"ABC Radio Perspective on ABC News 20/20 on May 29, 1994"

Related topics