There Are Times When The Utmost Daring

To Discover How Much Of Our Resources Must Be Mobilized For War, We Must First Examine Our Political Aim And That Of The Enemy. We Must Gauge The Strength And Situation Of The Opposite State. We Must Gauge The Character And Abilities Of Its Government And People And Do The Same In Regard To Our Own. Finally, We Must Evaluate The Political Sympathies Of Other States And The Effect The War May Have On Them.

Whenever Armed Forces . . . Are Used, The Idea Of Combat Must Be Present. . . . The End For Which A Soldier Is Recruited, Clothed, Armed, And Trained, The Whole Object Of His Sleeping, Eating, Drinking, And Marching Is Simply That He Should Fight At The Right Place And The Right Time.

The Backbone Of Surprise Is Fusing Speed With Secrecy.

Kind-hearted People Might Of Course Think There Was Some Ingenious Way To Disarm Or Defeat An Enemy Without Too Much Bloodshed, And Might Imagine This Is The True Goal Of The Art Of War. Pleasant As It Sounds; It Is A Fallacy That Must Be Exposed: War Is Such A Dangerous Business That The Mistakes Which Come From Kindness Are The Very Worst.

Lastly, The Great Uncertainty Of All Data In War Is A Peculiar Difficulty, Because All Action Must, To A Certain Extent, Be Planned In A Mere Twilight, Which In Addition Not Unfrequently — Like The Effect Of A Fog Or Moonshine — Gives To Things Exaggerated Dimensions And An Unnatural Appearance.