day no. 15,140: if you're willing to war, you must be willing to win

"When we seek battle, we must seek victory." -- MCDP 1-3: Tactics

This reminds me of the same sentiment expressed in a dialogue from the movie Luther...

"Spalatin, there are two ways of saying no to someone you believe to be stronger than yourself. The first is to say nothing and go on merely doing what you were doing before, and pretend that you never heard, allow time and inertia to be your allies."

"And the second?"

"And the second is to say no in such a kind and thoughtful way it befuddles them. Naturally, if both these strategies fail, there is nothing but to relent... Or to fight: And of course, if you decide to fight, you also have to decide to win."

You do not have to seek battle, but if you do, you must also seek victory. There is no valor in seeking battle without seeking victory. If you're willing to war, you must be willing to win

If it is worth fighting for, it is worth killing for, worth dying for. 
If it's not, then don't fight about it, don't kill over it and don't give your life for it.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

"Our ability to understand the situation is useless if we are not prepared to act decisively. When the opportunity arrives, we must exploit it fully and aggressively, committing every
ounce of combat power we can muster and pushing ourselves to the limits of exhaustion."
-- MCDP 1-3: Tactics

We must understand our situation and what to do about it.

1 Chronicles 12:32
Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command.

We must then be willing through courage and able through capacity to do what needs to be done. We develop our courage by deepening our conviction. We develop our capacity by sharpening our competencies.