Timidity Is The Root Of Prudence In

The Invention Of Gunpowder And The Constant Improvement Of Firearms Are Enough In Themselves To Show That The Advance Of Civilization Has Done Nothing Practical To Alter Or Deflect The Impulse To Destroy The Enemy, Which Is Central To The Very Idea Of War.

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.

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.

Everything In Strategy Is Very Simple, But That Does Not Mean Everything Is Very Easy.

Surprise Becomes Effective When We Suddenly Face The Enemy At One Point With Far More Troops Than He Expected. This Type Of Numerical Superiority Is Quite Distinct From Numerical Superiority In General: It Is The Most Powerful Medium In The Art Of War.