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

It is even better to act quickly and err than to hesitate until the time of action is past.

War is an act of force, and to the application of that force there is no limit. Each of the adversaries forces the hand of the other, and a reciprocal action results which in theory can have no limit.

Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination. The bloody solution of the crisis, the effort for the destruction of the enemy's forces, is the first-born son of war. Only great and general battles can produce great results. Blood is the price of victory.

Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult. The difficulties accumulate and end by producing a kind of friction that is inconceivable unless one has experienced war. ... Countless minor incidents - the kind you can never really foresee - combine to lower the general level of performance, so that one always falls short of the intended goal.

If you entrench yourself behind strong fortifications, you compel the enemy seek a solution elsewhere.

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