'... keep out of the way of officers, ‘cos they ain’t healthy. That’s what you learn in the army. The enemy dun’t really want to fight you, ‘cos the enemy is mostly blokes like you who want to go home with all their bits still on. But officers’ll get you killed.' (MR)
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'Putting up a statue to someone who tried to stop a war is not very, um, statuesque. Of course, if you had butchered five hundred of your own men out of arrogant carelessness, we’d be melting the bronze already.' (J)
The consensus seemed to be that if really large numbers of men were sent to storm the mountain, then enough might survive the rocks to take the citadel. This is essentially the basis of all military thinking. (E)
It's funny how the people have always respected the kind of commander who comes up with strategies like "I want fifty thousand of you chappies to rush at the enemy," whereas the more thoughtful commanders who say things like "Why don’t we build a damn great wooden horse and then nip in at the back gate while they’re all round the thing waiting for us to come out" are considered only one step above common oiks and not the kind of person you’d lend money to. (E)
Officers had a tried and tested way of solving problems like this. It was called a sergeant. (GG)
Battle elephants were the fashion lately. They weren’t much good for anything except trampling on their own troops when they inevitably panicked, so the military minds on both sides had responded by breeding bigger elephants. (P)
'Some people just become stupid with more authority.' (TOT)
The Patrician was a pragmatist. He’d never tried to fix things that worked. Things that didn’t work, however, got broken. (SM)
And Mustrum Ridcully, the current Archchancellor, liked to wander around the sleepy buildings, nodding to the servants and leaving little notes for his subordinates, usually designed for no other purpose than to make it absolutely clear that he was up and attending to the business of the day while they were still fast asleep. (LL)
He wasn't the leader. He'd have liked to be a leader. A leader could stick his chin out and do brave things. What Masklin had to do was argue and persuade and, sometimes, lie very slightly. He found it was often easier to get people to do things if you let them think it was their idea. (Dig)
'The important thing about being a leader is not being right or wrong but being certain. Otherwise people wouldn't know what to think. Of course, it helps to be right as well,' the Abbot conceded. (Truck)
'Even tyrants have to obey the law.’ He paused, looking thoughtful, and continued:‘No, I tell a lie, tyrants do not have to obey the law, obviously, but they do have to observe the niceties.' (MM)
'A wise ruler thinks twice before directing violence against someone because he does not approve of what they say.’
Once again, Vimes did not comment. He himself directed violence daily and with a certain amount of enthusiasm against people because he didn’t approve of them saying things like ‘Give me all your money’or ‘What are you going to do about it, copper?’ But perhaps rulers had to think differently. (Th) 'You can’t do that!’ Greenyham protested weakly, but the fire had drained out of him. Mr Stowley had collapsed on the floor, with his head in his hands.
‘Can I not?’ said Vetinari. ‘I am a tyrant. It’s what we do.' (GP) '… after you’ve learned to shout you have to learn not too!' (AM)
Leaders weren’t allowed not to know. (AM)
However efficient a ruler may be, there is always someone, isn’t there, who feels that his diet might be improved by some artificial additive, such as arsenic. (NOC)
Grand Viziers were always scheming megalomaniacs. It was probably in the job description: ‘Are you a devious, plotting, unreliable madman? Ah, good, then you can be my most trusted minister.' (IT)
... it took him several minutes to understand any new idea put to him, and this is a very valuable trait in a leader, because anything anyone is still trying to explain to you after two minutes is probably important and anything they give up after a mere minute or so is almost certainly something they shouldn’t have been bothering you with in the first place. (RM)
That was how you got to be a power in the land, he thought. You never cared a toss about whatever anyone else thought and you were never, ever, uncertain about anything. (GG)
'Never trust any ruler who puts his faith in tunnels and bunkers and escape routes. The chances are that his heart isn’t in the job.' (GG)
The thief shuffled out. It was always like this with the Patrician, he reflected bitterly. You came to him with a perfectly reasonable complaint. Next thing you knew, you were shuffling backwards, bowing and scraping, relieved simply to be getting away. You had to hand it to the Patrician, he admitted grudgingly. If you didn’t, he sent men to come and take it away. (GG)
The Patrician was not a man you shook a finger at unless you wanted to end up being able to count only to nine. (GG)
'And is he a fair and just ruler?’
Carding thought about it. The Patrician’s spy network was said to be superb. ‘I would say,’ he said carefully, ‘that he is unfair and unjust, but scrupulously even-handed. He is unfair and unjust to everyone, without fear or favour’. (S) Trymon knew all about rules and had always considered they were for making, not obeying. (LF)
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