Vince Flynn Quotes

A fatal mistake in war is to underrate the strength, feeling and resources of an enemy.

We have misunderstood, misread, misplanned and mismanaged our honorable intentions in Iraq with an arrogant self-delusion reminiscent of Vietnam.

Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. Antiquated War Offices, weak, incompetent, or arrogant Commanders, untrustworthy allies, hostile neutrals, malignant Fortune, ugly surprises, awful miscalculations — all take their seats at the Council Board on the morrow of a declaration of war. Always remember, however sure you are that you could easily win, that there would not be a war if the other man did not think he also had a chance.

Thinking you know when in fact you don't is a fatal mistake, to which we are all prone

We made a great mistake in the beginning of our struggle, and I fear, in spite of all we can do, it will prove to be a fatal mistake. We appointed all our worst generals to command our armies, and all our best generals to edit the newspapers

When a general, unable to estimate the enemy's strength, allows an inferior force to engage a larger one, or hurls a weak detachment against a powerful one, and neglects to place picked soldiers in the front rank, the result must be rout.

When as smart as you think you are is as wrong as you turn out to be, your life can fall out from under you.

I probably made a mistake at Florida trying to change schematically from what they had done before. As a result, we ended up not being very good at anything.

Most victories came from instantly exploiting your enemy's stupid mistakes, and not from any particular brilliance in your own plan.

People are never so near playing the fool as when they think themselves wise.

The very thing that men think they have got the most of, they have got the least of; and that is judgment.

Pride is a fool's fortress

Judge your enemy based upon capabilities, not intent, you have to look at the enemy and really almost make a worst case call every time.

I can always tell how stupid someone is by how certain they are about what they're saying.

We always make the mistake, the fatal mistake in the case of military people, of imagining that each war will be a kind of version of the one that happened previously.

Maybe he thinks he can rescue me? No one is that stupid.

My fatal flaw is hubris. The brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches? No, seaweed brain. That's hummus. Hubris is worse. What could be worse than hummus?

We frequently are troublesome to others, when we think it impossible for us ever to be so.

Question is, are you bozos smart enough to feel stupid?

A stupid person can make only certain, limited types of errors; the mistakes open to a clever fellow are far broader. But to the one who knows how smart he is compared to everyone else, the possibilities for true idiocy are boundless.

A general who allows himself to be decisively defeated in an extended mountain position deserves to be court-martialled.

The stupidity of a stupid man is mercifully intimate and reticient, while the stupidity of an intellectual is cried from the rooftops.

It is sufficient to estimate the enemy situation correctly and to concentrate your strength to capture him. There is no more to it than this. He who lacks foresight and underestimates his enemy will surely be captured by him.

A string of successes can kill you if they make you think, 'Hey, I'm smart; I can't make any mistakes'.

I don't make a lot of mistakes, because it's hard for me to be wrong