SEE DOUBLE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of See double

... and which made him what he was,—a man strong enough to take great chances for adequate ends. "All naval operations undertaken since I have been at the head of the government," said Napoleon, "have always failed, because the admirals see double, and have learned—where I do not know—that war can be made without running risks." It is not material certainty of success, the ignis fatuus which is the great snare of the mere engineer, or of the merely accomplished soldier, that points the way to heroic achievements. It is the vivid ...

— The Life of Nelson, Vol. I (of 2) - The Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain • A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan