The Art Of War In

No One Starts A War--or Rather, No One In His Sense Ought To Do So--without First Being Clear In His Mind What He Intends To Achieve By The War And How He Intends To Conduct It.

Pursue One Great Decisive Aim With Force And Determination.

War Is The Realm Of Uncertainty; Three Quarters Of The Factors On Which Action Is Based Are Wrapped In A Fog Of Greater Or Lesser Uncertainty.

After We Have Thought Out Everything Carefully In Advance And Have Sought And Found Without Prejudice The Most Plausible Plan, We Must Not Be Ready To Abandon It At The Slightest Provocation. Should This Certainty Be Lacking, We Must Tell Ourselves That Nothing Is Accomplished In Warfare Without Daring; That The Nature Of War Certainly Does Not Let Us See At All Times Where We Are Going; That What Is Probable Will Always Be Probable Though At The Moment It May Not Seem So; And Finally, That We Cannot Be Readily Ruined By A Single Error, If We Have Made Reasonable Preparations.

In The Whole Range Of Human Activities, War Most Closely Resembles A Game Of Cards.