The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing practical to alter or deflect the impulse to destroy the enemy, which is central to the very idea of war.

Beauty cannot be defined by abscissas and ordinates; neither are circles and ellipses created by their geometrical formulas.

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

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

War is...a trinity of violence, chance, and reason.

Modern wars are seldom fought without hatred between nations; this serves more or less as a substitute for hatred between individuals.

War is the province of chance. In no sphere of human activity is such a margin to be left for this intruder. It increases the uncertainty of every circumstance, and deranges the course of events.