War Is Not Merely A Political Act

Our Knowledge Of Circumstances Has Increased, But Our Uncertainty, Instead Of Having Diminished, Has Only Increased. The Reason Of This Is, That We Do Not Gain All Our Experience At Once, But By Degrees; So Our Determinations Continue To Be Assailed Incessantly By Fresh Experience; And The Mind, If We May Use The Expression, Must Always Be Under Arms.

There Are Times When The Utmost Daring Is The Height Of Wisdom.

Action In War Is Like Movement In A Resistant Element. Just As The Simplest And Most Natural Of Movements, Walking, Cannot Easily Be Performed In Water, So In War, It Is Difficult For Normal Efforts To Achieve Even Moderate Results.

We Must, Therefore, Be Confident That The General Measures We Have Adopted Will Produce The Results We Expect. Most Important In This Connection Is The Trust Which We Must Have In Our Lieutenants. Consequently, It Is Important To Choose Men On Whom We Can Rely And To Put Aside All Other Considerations. If We Have Made Appropriate Preparations, Taking Into Account All Possible Misfortunes, So That We Shall Not Be Lost Immediately If They Occur, We Must Boldly Advance Into The Shadows Of Uncertainty.

The First, The Supreme, The Most Far-reaching Act Of Judgment That The Statesman And Commander Have To Make Is To Establish ... The Kind Of War On Which They Are Embarking.