Politics is the womb in which war develops - where its outlines already exist in their hidden rudimentary form, like the characteristics of living creatures in their embryos.

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

War is a conflict of great interests which is settled by bloodshed, and only in that is it different from others.

War therefore is an act of violence to compel our opponent to fulfill our will.

No campaign plan survives first contact with the enemy

The enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan.

If the enemy is to be coerced, you must put him in a situation that is even more unpleasant than the sacrifice you call on him to make. The hardships of the situation must not be merely transient - at least not in appearance. Otherwise, the enemy would not give in, but would wait for things to improve.