No man can exactly calculate the capacity of human genius and stupidity, nor the incapacity of will.

Natural hazards, however formidable, are inherently less dangerous and less uncertain than fighting hazards. All conditions are more calculable, all obstacles more surmountable than those of human resistance.

In war the chief incalculable is the human will, which manifests itself in resistance, which in turn lies in the province of tactics. Strategy has not to overcome resistance, except from nature. Its purpose is to diminish the possibility of resistance, and it seeks to fulfil this purpose by exploiting the elements of movement and surprise.

To foster the people's willing spirit is often as important as to possess the more concrete forms of power.

No man can exactly calculate the capacity of human genius and stupidity, nor the incapacity of will.

This high proportion of history's decisive campaigns, the significance of which is enhanced by the comparative rarity of the direct approach, enforces the conclusion that the indirect is by far the most hopeful and economic form of strategy.

With growing experience, all skillful commanders sought to profit by the power of the defensive, even when on the offensive.