The first, the supreme, the most far-reaching act of judgment that the statesman and commander have to make is to establish ... the kind of war on which they are embarking.

Where execution is dominant, as it is in the individual events of a war whether great or small, then intellectual factors are reduced to a minimum.

Knowing is different from doing and therefore theory must never be used as norms for a standard, but merely as aids to judgment.

Close combat, man to man, is plainly to be regarded as the real basis of combat.

The best form of defense is attack.

The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy.

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