Hitler's Table Talk

56 ART OF LETTER WRITING
All that was done in that respect during the first World War
was sheer madness. The offensive at Verdun, for example,
was an act of lunacy. From beginning to end, all the commanders
responsible for that operation should have been put
in strait-jackets. We've not yet completely got over those mistaken
notions.
It's probable that, throughout the 1914-1918 war, some
twenty thousand men were uselessly sacrificed by employing
them as runners on missions that could have been equally well
accomplished by night, with less danger. How often I myself
have had to face a powerful artillery barrage, in order to carry
a simple post-card! It's true that later I had a commanding
officer who completely put a stop to these practices. The spirit
has changed since those days, and a day will come when such
absurdities can no longer occur.
A war commander must have imagination and foresight.
So it's not extraordinary that our people is at once a people of
soldiers and of artists. My strength lies in the fact that I can
imagine the situations that the troops are called upon to face.
And I can do that because I've been an ordinary soldier myself.
Thus one acquires the rapid understanding of the appropriate
steps to take in every kind of circumstance.
38 Night of I3th-i4th October 1941
How to expand—How to wait—How to meditate—How to
recognise essentials.
I've acquired the habit of avoiding every kind of vexation,
once evening has come—otherwise I wouldn't be able to free
myself from it all night.
I likewise have the habit of allowing my despatch-rider to
have a rest before I send him off. Some people are perhaps
astonished not to get an answer to their letters. I dictate my
mail, then I spend a dozen hours without bothering about it.
Next day I make a first set of corrections, and perhaps a second
set the day after. In doing so, I'm being very prudent. Nobody
can use a letter in my own hand against me. Besides,
it's my opinion that, in an age when we have facilities like the
train, the motor-car and the aircraft, it's much better to meet