The only situation a commander can know fully is his own: his opponent's he can know only from unreliable intelligence.

Only the element of chance is needed to make war a gamble, and that element is never absent.

Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.

The more a general is accustomed to place heavy demands on his soldiers, the more he can depend on their response.

All action takes place, so to speak, in a kind of twilight, which like a fog or moonlight, often tends to make things seem grotesque and larger than they really are.

The general unreliability of all information presents a special problem in war: all action takes place, so to speak, in the twilight, which, like fog or moonlight, often tends to make things seem grotesque and larger than they really are. Whatever is hidden from full view in this feeble light has to be guessed at by talent, or simply left to chance. So once again for the lack of objective knowledge, one has to trust to talent or to luck.

Four elements make up the climate of war: danger, exertion, uncertainty and chance.