War Is Not An Exercise Of The

It Should Be Noted That The Seeds Of Wisdom That Are To Bear Fruit In The Intellect Are Sown Less By Critical Studies And Learned Monographs Than By Insights, Broad Impressions, And Flashes Of Intuition.

War Is The Realm Of Uncertainty; Three-quarters Of The Factors On Which Action In War Is Based Are Wrapped In A Fog Of Greater Or Lesser Uncertainty. ... War Is The Realm Of Chance. No Other Human Activity Gives It Greater Scope; No Other Has Such Incessant And Varied Dealings With This Intruder. Chance Makes Everything More Uncertain And Interferes With The Whole Course Of Events.

Self-reliance Is The Best Defence Against The Pressures Of The Moment.

If We Do Not Learn To Regard A War, And The Separate Campaigns Of Which It Is Composed, As A Chain Of Linked Engagements Each Leading To The Next, But Instead Succumb To The Idea That The Capture Of Certain Geographical Points Or The Seizure Of Undefended Provinces Are Of Value In Themselves, We Are Liable To Regard Them As Windfall Profits.

No One Starts A War--or Rather, No One In His Sense Ought To Do So--without First Being Clear In His Mind What He Intends To Achieve By The War And How He Intends To Conduct It.