Sentence:  So great a man could not but understand , too , that the thing that moves men to sacrifice their lives is not the error of their thought , which their opponents see and <WSD>attack</WSD> , but the truth which the latter do not see - any more than they see the error which mars the truth they themselves defend . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with