Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain.

War is regarded as nothing but the continuation of state policy with other means.

Knowledge in war is very simple, being concerned with so few subjects, and only with their final results at that. But this does not make its application easy.

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

Timidity is the root of prudence in the majority of men.

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

All war presupposes human weakness and seeks to exploit it.