Men are basically smart or dumb and lazy or ambitious. The dumb and ambitious ones are dangerous and I get rid of them. The dumb and lazy ones I give mundane duties. The smart ambitious ones I put on my staff. The smart and lazy ones I make my commanders.

The peril of the hour moved the British to tremendous exertions, just as always in a moment of extreme danger things can be done which had previously been thought impossible. Mortal danger is an effective antidote for fixed ideas.

The battle is fought and decided by the quartermasters, long before the shooting begins.

It is often possible to decide the issue of a battle merely by making an unexpected shift of one's main weight.

There is one unalterable difference between a soldier and a civilian: the civilian never does more than he is paid to do.

One cannot permit unique opportunities to slip by for the sake of trifles.

Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning.