真正的意思是，将军必须了解他不是自由球员，不能希望成为一个自由球员。他必须在为民主工作的事实施加的局限性下工作，这意味着有时他必须修改或放弃最合理的军事计划，并以第二好的方式做到。
(What it really means is that the general must understand that he is not a free agent and cannot hope to become one. He has to work within the limitations imposed by the fact that he is working for a democracy, which means that at times he must modify or abandon the soundest military plan and make do with a second-best.)