The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation form their purposes.

In war everything is simple, but it's the simple things that are difficult.

The bloody solution of the crisis, the effort for the destruction of the enemy's forces, is the first-born son of war.

Self-reliance is the best defence against the pressures of the moment.

To discover how much of our resources must be mobilized for war, we must first examine our political aim and that of the enemy. We must gauge the strength and situation of the opposite state. We must gauge the character and abilities of its government and people and do the same in regard to our own. Finally, we must evaluate the political sympathies of other states and the effect the war may have on them.

We repeat again: strength of character does not consist solely in having powerful feelings, but in maintaining one’s balance in spite of them. Even with the violence of emotion, judgment and principle must still function like a ship’s compass, which records the slightest variations however rough the sea.

The majority of people are timid by nature, and that is why they constantly exaggerate danger. all influences on the military leader, therefore, combine to give him a false impression of his opponent's strength, and from this arises a new source of indecision.