There has been a constant struggle on the part of the military element to keep the end- fighting, or readiness to fight-superior to mere administrative considerations. The military man, having to do the fighting, considers that the chief necessity; the administrator equally naturally tends to think the smooth running of the machine the most admirable quality.
Alfred Thayer Mahan (1918). “Mahan on Naval Warfare: Selections from the Writing of Rear Admiral Alfred T. Mahan”
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