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.

The bloody solution of the crisis, the effort for the destruction of the enemy's forces, is the first-born son of war.

Of all the passions that inspire a man in a battle, none, we have to admit, is so powerful and so constant as the longing for honor and reknown.

War is not an exercise of the will directed at an inanimate matter.

Desperate affairs require desperate remedies.

[...] to introduce into the philosophy of war itself a principle of moderation would be an absurdity

The more physical the activity, the less the difficulties will be. The more the activity becomes intellectual and turns into motives which exercise a determining influence on the commander's will, the more the difficulties will increase.