Danton was, as we know, guillotined. Other statesmen, and commanders, who lived by similar mottoes have tended not to die in their own beds.

Moderation even in boldness — a sign of great strength of character and clarity of thought.

Boldnes, however, often means a seizure of the initiative which in itself is a great advantage, if it can be exploited.

Recklessness, which is not the same thing as boldness, can also pay dividends. Hitler was a reckless gambler who knew the Allied statesmen and military leaders of 1936-1939 facing him were not only cautious but unimaginative and uncertain as well. He took advantage with a daring assault on France in 1940 when the Allies held not only numerical but often qualitative advantages over the Wehrmacht and crushed France in six weeks.

The same spirit of recklessness led Hitler into forcing *all* the great powers except Japan into the war as Nazi Germany’s enemies, and undercutting his own strategic plans with many ill-considered diversions of resources like invading the Balkans and embarking on industrial genocide on a continental scale.

If I can disentangle myself from my primary life obligations I will have something to say, inter alia about Clausewitz’s discussion of boldness.