Boldness becomes rarer, the higher the rank.

Self-reliance is the best defence against the pressures of the moment.

The art of war in its highest point of view is policy.

War is a conflict of great interests which is settled by bloodshed, and only in that is it different from others.

Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.

Blind aggressiveness would destroy the attack itself, not the defense.

We repeat again: strength of character does not consist solely in having powerful feelings, but in maintaining one’s balance in spite of them. Even with the violence of emotion, judgment and principle must still function like a ship’s compass, which records the slightest variations however rough the sea.