Such is the nature and make-up of the French that they are only good at the start. Then they are worse than devils, but, given time, they're less than women.
Francois RabelaisAccording to true military art, one should never push one's enemy to the point of despair, because such a state multiplies his strength and increases his courage which had already been crushed and failing, and because there is no better remedy for the health of beaten and overwhelmed men than the absence of all hope.
Francois Rabelais