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Comment by p3rls | Hacker News Reader

The duty of the general is to ride by the ranks on horseback, show himself to those in danger, praise the brave, threaten the cowardly, encourage the lazy, fill up gaps, transpose a company if necessary, bring aid to wearied, anticipate the crisis, the hour, and the outcome. - Onasander

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Seems all well and good, except:

  > threaten the cowardly, encourage the lazy

You would reap more fruit if you encouraged the cowardly and threatened the lazy.

is this a joke I'm not understanding - I ask just because fruit is not normally something one reaps.

At any rate the construction of the phrase attempts to pair the sin with a motivator suited to that sin - threaten is suited to cowardice because one should be afraid of threats.

That said - I would have gone with prod the lazy.

I think it's just someone, possibly a non native speaker, mixing "reaping the benefits of" and "plucking the fruits of"

And get paid far more than the average worker - Onasander

I don't think the average worker would agree to do the work of his general without a change in his wage.

British Army private’s pay is £20k, general £120k. It’s far less than the ratio in a typical corporation.

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