[Podkayne]

Stay together, pay the soldiers and forget everything else

This is the best advice.

[SMARTY]

You are right. It sounds simple and it's direct but the first time I read it, it tore my head off. Actually it says so much, but 'stay together' is the primary thought or else nothing else matters. Tougher than it sounds. That was said in something like 247 AD, or there abouts...so I guess the problems we have are not so new. The man had 5 sons and this was his advise to them on his death bed.