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

The only thing harder than getting a new idea into the military mind is to get an old one out.

It is thus more potent, as well as more economical, to disarm the enemy than to attempt his destruction by hard fighting ... A strategist should think in terms of paralysing, not of killing.

While hitting one must guard ... In order to hit with effect, the enemy must be taken off his guard.

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

The practical value of history is to throw the film of the past through the material projector of the present on to the screen of the future.

The downfall of civilized states tends to come not from the direct assaults of foes, but from internal decay combined with the consequences of exhaustion in war.