Spies could be invaluable in peacetime, once the fighting actually started, their value dropped steeply. When the swords were out, it was the information your own scouts provided that mattered, not reports from unknown people whose veracity you couldn't prove.

Oh, bother!,” said Pooh, as Piglet came back from the dead.

The world's best swordsman doesn't fear the second best; he fears the worst swordsman, because he can't predict what the idiot will do.

Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled, or dead?

My duty is not affected by what others may or may not do to discharge their own.

I suppose I ought to think up some dramatic, quotable phrase for Public Information and the history books, but I'm damned if any of them come to mind. Besides, admitting the truth wouldn't sound too good. The truth, Russell, is that now the moment's here, I'm scared shitless. Somehow I don't think even Public Information could turn that into good copy.

Giving orders you know won't be obeyed is one of the best ways I know to destroy your own authority.