Please help me with this quote?

Question

"One should never allow chaos to develop in order to avoid going to war, because one does not avoid a war but instead puts it off to his disadvantage."

Answer 1

Niccolo Machiavelli's 'The Prince'

Answer 2

Basically, this says that when entering a war, do it decisively -- with a knock-out punch and do not delay while things get worse.