War Is An Act Of Force, And

If The Leader Is Filled With High Ambition And If He Pursues His Aims With Audacity And Strength Of Will, He Will Reach Them In Spite Of All Obstacles.

The General Unreliability Of All Information Presents A Special Problem In War: All Action Takes Place, So To Speak, In The Twilight, Which, Like Fog Or Moonlight, Often Tends To Make Things Seem Grotesque And Larger Than They Really Are. Whatever Is Hidden From Full View In This Feeble Light Has To Be Guessed At By Talent, Or Simply Left To Chance. So Once Again For The Lack Of Objective Knowledge, One Has To Trust To Talent Or To Luck.

We Repeat Again: Strength Of Character Does Not Consist Solely In Having Powerful Feelings, But In Maintaining One’s Balance In Spite Of Them. Even With The Violence Of Emotion, Judgment And Principle Must Still Function Like A Ship’s Compass, Which Records The Slightest Variations However Rough The Sea.

War Is The Realm Of Uncertainty; Three-quarters Of The Factors On Which Action In War Is Based Are Wrapped In A Fog Of Greater Or Lesser Uncertainty. ... War Is The Realm Of Chance. No Other Human Activity Gives It Greater Scope; No Other Has Such Incessant And Varied Dealings With This Intruder. Chance Makes Everything More Uncertain And Interferes With The Whole Course Of Events.

All War Presupposes Human Weakness And Seeks To Exploit It.