The fact of being reported increases the apparent extent of a deplorable development by a factor of ten.

Policy is formed by preconceptions, by long implanted biases. When information is relayed to policy-makers, they respond in terms of what is already inside their heads and consequently make policy less to fit the facts than to fit the notions and intentions formed out of the mental baggage that has accumulated in their minds since childhood.

The conduct of war was so much more interesting than its prevention.

Wisdom - meaning judgment acting on experience, common sense, available knowledge, and a decent appreciation of probability.

Strong prejudices in an ill-formed mind are hazardous to government, and when combined with a position of power even more so.

Learning from experience is a faculty almost never practiced

Wooden-headedness, the source of self-deception, is a factor that plays a remarkably large role in government. It consists in assessing a situation in terms of preconceived fixed notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by the facts.