The theory of the indirect approach operates on the line of least expectation.

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

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

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.

Air forces offered the possibility of striking a the enemy's economic and moral centres without having first to achieve 'the destruction of the enemy's main forces on the battlefield'. Air-power might attain a direct end by indirect means - hopping over opposition instead of overthrowing it.

Direct experience is inherently too limited to form an adequate foundation either for theory or for application. At the best it produces an atmosphere that is of value in drying and hardening the structure of thought. The greater value of indirect experience lies in its greater variety and extent. History is universal experience, the experience not of another, but of many others under manifold conditions.

It is only to clear from history that states rarely keep faith with each other, save in so far (and so long) as their promises seem to them to combine with their interests.