Godlike & Attila
Godlike
Attila, I’ve been thinking about the true cost of victory. How do you weigh the spoils against the lives you take?
Attila
Victory is the price we all pay for a cause. If the cost is too great for the win, we retreat. If the gain serves the people, the sacrifice is justified. I weigh it by the ends we seek, not by the wounds that appear.
Godlike
You talk of ends, but a true leader sees how far the price stretches and whether the people can bear it in the long run.
Attila
A leader counts not only the weight on the battlefield but also the weight on the hearths that follow. If the people can bear the loss, the victory stands; if they crumble, even the greatest triumph is a hollow ruin. The ends decide the means, but the means must not break the ones who bear them.
Godlike
You speak like a philosopher, but a ruler measures the outcome by the strength of the people, not by the weight of the cost. Strength remains if the people stand, not if they break.
Attila
The strength of a people is measured in their resolve, not in the grief they carry. If they stand firm after the storm, the cost was worth it. If they collapse, the victory is empty. We choose the path that keeps the line unbroken, even if it means hard losses.