The Will to Power · Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
665.
I have the intention of extending my arm; taking it for granted that I know as little of the physiology of the human body and of the mechanical laws of its movements as the man in the street, what could there be more vague, more bloodless, more uncertain than this intention compared with what follows it? And supposing I were the astutest of mechanics, and especially conversant with the formulæ which are applicable in this case, I should not be able to extend my arm one whit the better. Our "knowledge" and our "action" in this case lie coldly apart: as though in two different regions.--Again: Napoleon carries out a plan of campaign--what does that mean? In this case, everything concerning the consummation of the campaign is _known,_ because everything must be done through words of command: but even here subordinates are taken for granted, who apply and adapt the general plan to the particular emergency, to the degree of strength, etc.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.