Sublime

Perhaps above all, Eisenhower had the nerve to allow the German advance to continue until it ran out of steam, and then deliver massive counterattacks from the south under Patton, and from the north under Montgomery.

Any plan for peace is apt to be not only futile but dangerous. Like most planning, unless of a mainly material kind, it breaks down through disregard of human nature. Worse still, the higher the hopes that are built on such a plan, the more likely that their collapse may precipitate war.

The increasing specialization of history has tended to decrease the intelligibility of history and thus forfeit the benefit to the community—even

US World War II commander General George Patton, who said, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”12

The Battle of the Bulge was Ike’s finest hour as a military commander.

By the same token, Eisenhower is entitled to full credit for the victory. From the start of the German offensive, he showed a quicker grasp of the situation than any of his subordinates, and he acted decisively to contain the attack.

Ike’s optimism was contagious. He recognized that a few compelling ideas, preached relentlessly, would propel his forces forward.

in the eleventh-century teaching of Chang-Tsai: "If you can doubt at points where other people feel no impulse to doubt, then you are making progress."

An efficient communications system is of the greatest importance in directing and controlling raw or inexperienced troops in combat.