To Be Practical, Any Plan

The Deduction Of Effect From Cause Is Often Blocked By Some Insuperable Extrinsic Obstacle: The True Causes May Be Quite Unknown. Nowhere In Life Is This So Common As In War, Where The Facts Are Seldom Fully Known And The Underlying Motives Even Less So.

[...] To Introduce Into The Philosophy Of War Itself A Principle Of Moderation Would Be An Absurdity

If We Do Not Learn To Regard A War, And The Separate Campaigns Of Which It Is Composed, As A Chain Of Linked Engagements Each Leading To The Next, But Instead Succumb To The Idea That The Capture Of Certain Geographical Points Or The Seizure Of Undefended Provinces Are Of Value In Themselves, We Are Liable To Regard Them As Windfall Profits.

The Only Situation A Commander Can Know Fully Is His Own: His Opponent's He Can Know Only From Unreliable Intelligence.

Although Our Intellect Always Longs For Clarity And Certainty, Our Nature Often Finds Uncertainty Fascinating.