In War more than anywhere else in the world things happen differently to what we had expected, and look differently when near, to what they did at a distance.

Politics is the womb in which war develops.

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

War is politics by other means.

A conqueror is always a lover of peace.

In short, absolute, so-called mathematical, factors never find a firm basis in military calculations. From the very start, there is an interplay of possibilities, probabilities, good luck and bad, that weaves its way throughout the length and breadth of the tapestry. In the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.

War therefore is an act of violence to compel our opponent to fulfill our will.