Obstinacy is a fault of temperament. Stubbornness and intolerance of contradiction result from a special kind of egotism, which elevates above everything else the pleasure of its autonomous intellect, to which others must bow.

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

In war more than anywhere else, things do not turn out as we expect.

The more a leader is in the habit of demanding from his men, the surer he will be that his demands will be answered.

Desperate affairs require desperate remedies.

The heart of France lies between Brussels and Paris.

To discover how much of our resources must be mobilized for war, we must first examine our political aim and that of the enemy. We must gauge the strength and situation of the opposite state. We must gauge the character and abilities of its government and people and do the same in regard to our own. Finally, we must evaluate the political sympathies of other states and the effect the war may have on them.