War is only caused through the political intercourse of governments and nations - war is nothing but a continuation of political intercourse with an admixture of other means.

There is nothing more common than to find considerations of supply affecting the strategic lines of a campaign and a war.

Talent and genius operate outside the rules, and theory conflicts with practice.

Boldness becomes rarer, the higher the rank.

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.

The difficulty of accurate recognition constitutes one of the most serious sources of friction in war, by making things appear entirely different from what one had expected.

Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.