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

There are very few men-and they are the exceptions-who are able to think and feel beyond the present moment

Whenever armed forces . . . are used, the idea of combat must be present. . . . The end for which a soldier is recruited, clothed, armed, and trained, the whole object of his sleeping, eating, drinking, and marching is simply that he should fight at the right place and the right time.

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.

Only great and general battles can produce great results

Modern wars are seldom fought without hatred between nations; this serves more or less as a substitute for hatred between individuals.