There is no mistake; there has been no mistake; and there shall be no mistake.
Duke Of WellingtonRead
Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.
Interpretation
Winning a battle brings its own sadness and reflection despite the apparent victory.
The quote by the Duke of Wellington suggests that even in victory, there can be deep sorrow and contemplation. While a lost battle is undoubtedly tragic, the pain associated with winning can stem from the realization of loss, sacrifice, and the heavy burdens that come with success. It highlights the complexity of human emotion in the face of achievements, where victory does not always equate to happiness.
In practice
In a discussion about the burdens of leadership during a team victory celebration.
There is no mistake; there has been no mistake; and there shall be no mistake.
All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavour to find out what you don't know by what you do; that's what I called 'guess what was at the other side of the hill'.
The whole art of war consists in getting at what is on the other side of the hill.
Next to a battle lost, the greatest misery is a battle gained.
Next to a lost battle, nothing is so sad as a battle that has been won.
Be discreet in all things, and so render it unnecessary to be mysterious about any.
one does not only wish to be understood when one writes; one wishes just as surely not to be understood.
Those people who treat politics and morality separately will never understand either of them.
Books about spies and traitors - and the congressional hearings that follow the exposure of traitors - generally assume that false-negative errors are much worse than false-positive errors.
LET A MAN THINK AND CARE ever so little about God, he does not therefore exist without God. God is here with him, upholding, warming, delighting, teaching him-making life a good thing to him. God gives him himself, though the man knows it not.
Absolute freedom of the press to discuss public questions is a foundation stone of American liberty.
I am convinced that one should tell one's spiritual director if one has a great desire for Communion, for Our Lord does not come from Heaven every day to stay in a golden ciborium; He comes to find another heaven, the heaven of our soul in which He loves to dwell.
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