The Best Strategy Is Always To Be

With Uncertainty In One Scale, Courage And Self-confidence Should Be Thrown Into The Other To Correct The Balance. The Greater They Are, The Greater The Margin That Can Be Left For Accidents.

What Do We Mean By The Defeat Of The Enemy? Simply The Destruction Of His Forces, Whether By Death, Injury, Or Any Other Means-either Completely Or Enough To Make Him Stop Fighting. . . . The Complete Or Partial Destruction Of The Enemy Must Be Regarded As The Sole Object Of All Engagements. . . . Direct Annihilation Of The Enemy's Forces Must Always Be The Dominant Consideration.

The First, The Supreme, The Most Far-reaching Act Of Judgment That The Statesman And Commander Have To Make Is To Establish ... The Kind Of War On Which They Are Embarking.

By 'intelligence' We Mean Every Sort Of Information About The Enemy And His Country - The Basis, In Short, Of Our Own Plans And Operations.

The Object Of Defense Is Preservation; And Since It Is Easier To Hold Ground Than To Take It, Defense Is Easier Than Attack. But Defense Has A Passive Purpose: Preservation; And Attack A Positive One: Conquest.... If Defense Is The Stronger Form Of War, Yet Has A Negative Object, It Follows That It Should Be Used Only So Long As Weakness Compels, And Be Abandoned As Soon As We Are Strong Enough To Pursue A Positive Object.