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

In war everything is simple, but it's the simple things that are difficult.

Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain.

What we should admire is the acute fulfillment of the unspoken assumptions, the smooth harmony of the whole activity, which only become evident in the final success.

Politics is the womb in which war develops.

Our knowledge of circumstances has increased, but our uncertainty, instead of having diminished, has only increased. The reason of this is, that we do not gain all our experience at once, but by degrees; so our determinations continue to be assailed incessantly by fresh experience; and the mind, if we may use the expression, must always be under arms.

A certain grasp of military affairs is vital for those in charge of general policy.