A complacent satisfaction with present knowledge is the chief bar to the pursuit of knowledge.

A modern state is such a complex and interdependent fabric that it offers a target highly sensitive to a sudden and overwhelming blow from the air.

A complacent satisfaction with present knowledge is the chief bar to the pursuit of knowledge.

If you find your opponent in a strong position costly to force, you should leave him a line of retreat as the quickest way of loosening his resistance. It should, equally, be a principle of policy, especially in war, to provide your opponent with a ladder by which he can climb down.

The higher level of grand strategy [is] that of conducting war with a far-sighted regard to the state of the peace that will follow.

The art of the indirect approach can only be mastered, and its full scope appreciated, by study of and reflection upon the whole history of war. But we can at least crystallize the lessons into two simple maxims- one negative, the other positive. The first is that, in face of the overwhelming evidence of history, no general is justified in launching his troops to a direct attack upon an enemy firmly in position. The second, that instead of seeking to upset the enemy's equilibrium by one's attack, it must be upset before a real attack is, or can be successfully launched

For the spread and endurance of an idea the originator is dependent on the self-development of the receivers and transmitters.