“Good impulses are naught, unless they become good actions.”
Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French moralist and essayist
“Good officers never engage in general actions unless induced by opportunity or obliged by necessity.”
De Re Militari (also Epitoma Rei Militaris), Book III, "Dispositions for Action"
Context: Punishment, and fear thereof, are necessary to keep soldiers in order in quarters; but in the field they are more influenced by hope and rewards. Good officers never engage in general actions unless induced by opportunity or obliged by necessity. (General Maxims)
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Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus16
writer of the Later Roman EmpireRelated quotes
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“Honour is to you and me as strong an obligation, as necessity to others.”
Neque enim minus apud nos honestas quam apud alios necessitas valet.
Pliny the Younger (61–113) Roman writer
Letter 10, 3.
Letters, Book IV
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II – The General and His Troops.
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