The transitory interests of royal houses may be advanced in war; the real interests of all people are furthered by the peace.

States in the world are like individuals in the state of nature. They are neither perfectly good nor are they controlled by law.

To solve these problems one needs as much an understanding of politics as an understanding of man - and the one cannot be derived from the other.

Each man does seek his own interest, but, unfortunately, not according to the dictates of reason.

In anarchy there is no automatic harmony .

Asking who won a given war, someone has said, is like asking who won the San Francisco earthquake. That in war there is no victory but only varying degrees of defeat is a proposition that has gained increasing acceptance in the twentieth century.

With many sovereign states, with no system of law enforceable among them, with each state judging its grievances and ambitions according to the dictates of its own reason or desire - conflict, sometimes leading to war, is bound to occur.