War Should Never Be Thought Of As

In 1793 Such A Force As No One Had Any Conception Of Made Its Appearance. War Had Again Suddenly Become An Affair Of The People, And That Of A People Numbering Thirty Millions, Every One Of Whom Regarded Himself As A Citizen Of The State... By This Participation Of The People In The War... A Whole Nation With Its Natural Weight Came Into The Scale.

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.

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.

War Is Only Caused Through The Political Intercourse Of Governments And Nations - War Is Nothing But A Continuation Of Political Intercourse With An Admixture Of Other Means.

[the Cause Of Inaction In War] ... Is The Imperfection Of Human Perception And Judgment Which Is More Pronounced In War Than Anywhere Else. We Hardly Know Accurately Our Own Situation At Any Particular Moment While The Enemy's, Which Is Concealed From Us, Must Be Deduced From Very Little Evidence.