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 strategy is very simple, but that does not mean everything is very easy.

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

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

Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.

[The cause of inaction in war] ... is the imperfection of human perception and judgment which is more pronounced in war than anywhere else. We hardly know accurately our own situation at any particular moment while the enemy's, which is concealed from us, must be deduced from very little evidence.

Men are always more inclined to pitch their estimate of the enemy's strength too high than too low, such is human nature.