Asian War Proverb

[David C Kifer]

The most famous of which is "never get involved in a land war in Asia" -
but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go against a Sicilian
when death is on the line"!
--Vizzini, character in _Princess Bride_ (1987) movie.

President Johnson was advised by the Joint Chiefs to strike guerrilla
sanctuaries in the North. He hesitated, in no small part because of a
bit of a cautionary word on fighting in Asia that he once received from
a surprising source. As the President tells it, when he visited the late
General Douglas MacArthur at Walter Reed Hospital for the last time, the
two got to talking about the Far East. Said MacArthur: "Son, don't ever
get yourself bogged down in a land war in Asia."
-- Foreign Relations: A Look Down That Long Road, _TIME_, Friday, Feb.
19, 1965
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940916-9,00.html

"Rule 1, on page 1 of the book of war is: 'Do not march on Moscow.'
... Rule 2 is: 'Do not go fighting with your land armies in China.'"
-- Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery (Viscount Alamein) in a speech in
the House of Lords on 30 May 1962:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/trivia

--
Dave
"Tam multi libri, tam breve tempus!"
(Et brevis pecunia.) [Et breve spatium.]

[SteveMR200]

On Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:42:09 -0400, David C Kifer wrote in message:
<haiue...@news1.newsguy.com>:

>"Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line"!
>--Vizzini, character in _Princess Bride_ (1987) movie.

NY162: (Tom Hanks)
Minus specifics, it's hard to help, except to say:
Go to the mattresses.

Shopgirl: (Meg Ryan)
What? What does that mean?

NY162:
It's from The Godfather. It means you have to go
to war.

Shopgirl:
What is it with men and The Godfather?

NY162:
The Godfather is the I Ching. The sum of all
wisdom. The Godfather is the answer to any
question: What should I pack for my summer
vacation? Leave the gun, take the cannoli.
What day of the week is it? Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday, Wednesday.

And the answer to your question is: Go to the mattresses.
You're at war--it's not personal--it's business. Recite
that to yourself every time you feel you're losing
your nerve.

--Dialogue from an AOL online chat session seen in
the film _You've Got Mail_ [1998], screenplay
by Nora Ephron

--
Steve