War Is The Realm Of

War Is Not Merely A Political Act But A Real Political Instrument, A Continuation Of Political Intercourse, A Carrying Out Of The Same By Other Means.

Desperate Affairs Require Desperate Remedies.

What We Should Admire Is The Acute Fulfillment Of The Unspoken Assumptions, The Smooth Harmony Of The Whole Activity, Which Only Become Evident In The Final Success.

Our Knowledge Of Circumstances Has Increased, But Our Uncertainty, Instead Of Having Diminished, Has Only Increased. The Reason Of This Is, That We Do Not Gain All Our Experience At Once, But By Degrees; So Our Determinations Continue To Be Assailed Incessantly By Fresh Experience; And The Mind, If We May Use The Expression, Must Always Be Under Arms.

A General In Time Of War Is Constantly Bombarded By Reports Both True And False; By Errors Arising From Fear Or Negligence Or Hastiness; By Disobedience Born Of Right Or Wrong Interpretations, Of Ill Will; Of A Proper Or Mistaken Sense Of Duty; Of Laziness; Or Of Exhaustion; And By Accident That Nobody Could Have Foreseen. In Short, He Is Exposed To Countless Impressions, Most Of Them Disturbing, Few Of Them Encouraging. ... If A Man Were To Yield To These Pressures, He Would Never Complete An Operation.