War Is Not An Independent

War Is The Province Of Chance. In No Sphere Of Human Activity Is Such A Margin To Be Left For This Intruder. It Increases The Uncertainty Of Every Circumstance, And Deranges The Course Of Events.

No Other Human Activity Is So Continuously Or Universally Bound Up With Chance. And Through The Element Of Chance, Guesswork And Luck Come To Play A Great Part In War.

The More Physical The Activity, The Less The Difficulties Will Be. The More The Activity Becomes Intellectual And Turns Into Motives Which Exercise A Determining Influence On The Commander's Will, The More The Difficulties Will Increase.

[the Cause Of Inaction In War] ... Is The Imperfection Of Human Perception And Judgment Which Is More Pronounced In War Than Anywhere Else. We Hardly Know Accurately Our Own Situation At Any Particular Moment While The Enemy's, Which Is Concealed From Us, Must Be Deduced From Very Little Evidence.

The Best Strategy Is Always To Be Very Strong.