[PW] "Generals are always fighting the last war" (Quotation Query #645)

[Patricia Hatch]

Hi Fred,

The references that I have found to this quote are later than 1962.

1. From the March 1979 issue of Commentary, there is a book review of 
the book "Watergate and the Constitution authored by Philip B. 
Kurland.  The reviewer, Peter H. Schuck, begins his review by saying 
"Charles de Gaulle once quipped that generals are always fighting the 
last war."  I can not find anything from de Gaulle corroborating the quote.

2. Another version of this quote goes like this: "One information 
processing device that cannot easily accommodate itself to the 
universal acceleration (of change) is the human brain.  Generals are 
always fighting the last war; and educators..are always instructing 
the last generation...The average college student is a very badly 
programmed computer."

The author of this quote is: Wilkinson, John.  The Quantitative 
Society.  Santa Barbara, Calif.: the Center for the Study of 
Democratic Institutions, 1964.

The quote is cited in:

Fabun, Don and Niels Sundermeyer.  The Dynamics of Change.  Englewood 
Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall [1967] , p. 32

and in this article:

Rossi, Ernest Laurence. "The Breakout Heuristic: A Phenomenology of 
Growth Therapy with College Students."  Journal of Humanistic 
Psychology, Spring 1968, p. 33.

Hope this is helpful

Patty

   At 01:40 PM 7/2/2007, you wrote:

>Someone has asked me for the origin of the saying "Generals are 
>always fighting
>the last war."  I have something similar to this in The Yale Book of 
>Quotations
>from Barbara Tuchman (1962), but I imagine it predates her. Any ideas or
>evidence as to early usages or origin?
>
>Fred Shapiro
>
>
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Patricia Hatch
Educational Technology & Communications Specialist
Harvard University
Center for Workplace Development/FAD Financial Systems Solutions
8 Story Street (Basement)
Cambridge, MA  02138
Phone: (617) 496-3242
email: patricia_hatch at harvard.edu