The Principle of Opportune Action

"Do not oppose a great force; retreat until it weakens, then advance with resolution."

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This Principle does not recommend retreating in front of minor inconveniences, or everyday problems. According to the principle, we should only retreat when we are in front of overwhelming forces – those that would surely overpower us if we faced them head-on. Retreating before small difficulties weakens people, making them timid and afraid. Not retreating before great forces leads people to all kind of failures and accidents.

The problem arises when we do not know ahead of time who has more force, the difficulty or us. This will have to be proved by making little "tests". Here, we attempt little confrontations with the difficulty in which we do not commit ourselves entirely and which leave us with space to change our position if it becomes untenable. In the old days, people used to speak of "prudence" – and that was an idea very close to what we are explaining here.

But there are other points: how do we advance? When has the difficulty lost its strength? Or when have we gained enough strength to advance? The same idea applies of making little tests every so often, without committing ourselves totally. Then, when the balance of forces is in our favor and the difficulty has weakened, the advance must be total. Holding back reserves in this case will endanger our success because we will not be advancing with all the energy we have available.

 

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