Hello, would like to know which book would be better to read. Please make your vote, if any other suggestions put into a post. Thanks everyone.
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Hello, would like to know which book would be better to read. Please make your vote, if any other suggestions put into a post. Thanks everyone.
War and Peace.
What is the purpose of reading one? Is it an assignment or for fun? (if for fun, why not read them both?)
The Art of War will make your smarter. Seriously.
I haven't read On War yet.. Should list it on my summer readings list.
On War is an actual military treatise, while The Art Of War is more like a collection of fortune-cookie homilies. Guess which one is more useful?
Art of War..Quote:
Originally Posted by Axer NZ
Life lessons > Military "Treatsies"
-Edit-
*Military "Treatise"
Which Art of War are we talking about, there are several.
Not if you're a soldier.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalent
"Sir, the enemy is attempting to flank us! What should we do?"
"A penny saved is a penny earned."
"WHAT??? Sir, we need orders!"
"The mind is like a parachute: it doesn't work unless it's open."
"The enemy has almost overrun our position! What do we do, sir???"
"Don't count-"
*both are obliterated by an artillery shell*
Now, I'm fairly sure that 'treatsie' is not a word, but perhaps you should go and look up 'treatise' before you go and make an ass of yourself by saying something intolerably stupid?
Oh, too late. Still, go look it up. You might actually learn something, abhorrent as that may be to people like you.
Way to have spazz..Quote:
Originally Posted by Axer NZ
May I note that not everybody's a soldier.Quote:
Originally Posted by Axer NZ
The majority of the world's population lives life not as a soldier. Yes, military tactics can be applied in real life to help you in your life, and can give you many teachings and lessons, but the reason you're giving is purely unreasonable. How many people nowadays actually have to deal with getting overran by enemy soldiers?
And the "Treatsies-Treatise" part was my mistake, sorry for my idiocy. Thank you for the good lesson on my vocabulary.
Havn't read 'On War', but 'The Art of War' was one of the best things I ever read. Ever.
A small fraction of the population (assuming no major wars in the near future), but that's not the point. Both texts are designed for the purpose of giving strategic and tactical advice to commanders. However, only one of them actually does so, while the other spouts vaguely worded homilies like they're pronouncements from some major deity. Life lessons are always good, but how useful is something like this?Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalent
"The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose."
Useless in war, useless in peace. It doesn't do what it's supposed to do, and it doesn't do anything else, either.
You have a point there. The texts were intended for military use, but in this situation, we should be looking more at how much it can teach us, and how well will we be able to apply these teachings.Quote:
Originally Posted by Axer NZ
That's exactly my point. TAOW teaches us nothing more than what the most basic common sense would be able to determine, and does it in a very roundabout way. You'd be better off using a Magic 8-Ball for advice, whereas On War actually has quite a bit of decent, usable information in it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalent
I'm persuaded now, but...Quote:
Originally Posted by Axer NZ
Men are fools, they need reminding of common sense..
You need common sense, you read Common Sense. That's just common sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalent
Needs moar common sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by Axer NZ
Carl von Clausewitz's On War;
Niccolo Machiavelli's The Art of War;
Vegetius' The Art of War;
Emperor Maurice's [attributed] Strategikon;
Xenophon's Cyropaedia, Hipparchicus, Hiero;
The military manuals of the Ancient Greeks and Romans such as Frontinus, Polybius, Titus Livy, Ammianus Marcellinus, etc;
The military manuals of European commanders such as Montecuccoli, Hermann-Maurice comte de Saxe, the Hohenzollern King of Prussia Frederick II 'the Great', Prince Eugene of Savoy-Carignan, etc.
That reminds me..
Which "Art of War" was the OP referring to? Sun Tzu's?
Sun Tzu's version you could read in one day.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalent
When normal people talk about 'The Art of War' they usually refer to Sun Tzu.
Conrad is, of course, the excpetion, as he far exceed us mere mortals in every way. a.k.a. he's a nerd
The point of 'The Art of War' is to give advice that ALWAYS applies in EVERY combat scenario; they also hold equally true in buisness.