Each state pursues its own interest's, however defined, in ways it judges best. Force is a means of achieving the external ends of states because there exists no consistent, reliable process of reconciling the conflicts of interest that inevitably arise among similar units in a condition of anarchy.

If we gather more and more data and establish more and more associations, however, we will not finally find that we know something. We will simply end up having more and more data and larger sets of correlations.

External pressure seems to produce internal unity.

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.

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

In a zero-sum game, the problem is entirely one of distribution, not at all one of production.

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.