Politics Is The Womb In Which War

Talent And Genius Operate Outside The Rules, And Theory Conflicts With Practice.

Obstinacy Is A Fault Of Temperament. Stubbornness And Intolerance Of Contradiction Result From A Special Kind Of Egotism, Which Elevates Above Everything Else The Pleasure Of Its Autonomous Intellect, To Which Others Must Bow.

The Deduction Of Effect From Cause Is Often Blocked By Some Insuperable Extrinsic Obstacle: The True Causes May Be Quite Unknown. Nowhere In Life Is This So Common As In War, Where The Facts Are Seldom Fully Known And The Underlying Motives Even Less So.

What Do We Mean By The Defeat Of The Enemy? Simply The Destruction Of His Forces, Whether By Death, Injury, Or Any Other Means-either Completely Or Enough To Make Him Stop Fighting. . . . The Complete Or Partial Destruction Of The Enemy Must Be Regarded As The Sole Object Of All Engagements. . . . Direct Annihilation Of The Enemy's Forces Must Always Be The Dominant Consideration.

Desperate Affairs Require Desperate Remedies.