“The fiercest serpent may be overcome by a swarm of ants.”

— Isoroku Yamamoto

Statement in opposition of the planned construction of the Yamato class battleships, as quoted in Scraps of paper: the disarmament treaties between the world wars (1989) by Harlow A. Hyde. In this statement, Yamamoto implies that even the most powerful battleships can be sunk by a huge swarm of carrier planes. This remark also proved prophetic as both Yamato and Musashi would be sunk by overwhelming air attacks.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The fiercest serpent may be overcome by a swarm of ants." by Isoroku Yamamoto?

Isoroku Yamamoto 7

Japanese Marshal Admiral 1884–1943

Related quotes

“Ant-swarming city, city abounding in dreams,
Where ghosts in broad daylight accost the passerby!”

Charles Baudelaire book Les Fleurs du mal

Fourmillante cité, cité pleine de rêves,
Où le spectre en plein jour raccroche le passant!
"Les Sept Vieillards" [The Seven Old Men] http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Les_sept_vieillards
Les fleurs du mal (Flowers of Evil) (1857)

“And what's more wonderful, when big loads foil
One ant or two to carry, quickly then
A swarm flock round to help their fellow-men.”

John Clare (1793–1864) English poet

"The Ants"
Poems Chiefly from Manuscript

“It may stamp all flat; it is disinclined to tolerate independence and greatness, but prone to constrain people to become as automatic as ants.”

Karl Jaspers (1883–1969) German psychiatrist and philosopher

Man in the Modern Age (1933)
Context: The masses are our masters; and for every one who looks facts in the face his existence has become dependent on them, so that the thought of them must control his doings, his cares, and his duties.
Even an articulated mass always tends to become unspiritual and inhuman. It is life without existence, superstitions without faith. It may stamp all flat; it is disinclined to tolerate independence and greatness, but prone to constrain people to become as automatic as ants.<!-- p. 43