Were I to announce my intentions point-blank, there was no doubt that the sea of ignorant fear, of shocked surprise, of concerted malevolence through which I was navigating would cause such a tidal wave of alarms and passions in every walk of life that the ship would capsize. I must, therefore, manoeuvre without ever changing course until such time as, unmistakably, common sense broke through the mists….

XREF: Evokes the political-strategist's dilemma of announcing intentions versus working quietly, familiar from reform movements and institutional change literature.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 1155