To be practical, any plan must take account of the enemy's power to frustrate it.

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

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

Desperate affairs require desperate remedies.

Obstinacy is a fault of temperament. Stubbornness and intolerance of contradiction result from a special kind of egotism, which elevates above everything else the pleasure of its autonomous intellect, to which others must bow.

Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.

As each man's strength gives out, as it no longer responds to his will, the inertia of the whole gradually comes to rest on the commander's will alone. The ardor of his spirit must rekindle the flame of purpose in all others; his inward fire must revive their hope.