Only Great And General Battles Can Produce

Friction Is The Only Concept That More Or Less Corresponds To The Factors That Distinguish Real War From War On Paper.

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.

What Do We Mean By The Defeat Of The Enemy? Simply The Destruction Of His Forces, Whether By Death, Injury, Or Any Other Means-either Completely Or Enough To Make Him Stop Fighting. . . . The Complete Or Partial Destruction Of The Enemy Must Be Regarded As The Sole Object Of All Engagements. . . . Direct Annihilation Of The Enemy's Forces Must Always Be The Dominant Consideration.

Talent And Genius Operate Outside The Rules, And Theory Conflicts With Practice.

The First, The Supreme, The Most Far-reaching Act Of Judgment That The Statesman And Commander Have To Make Is To Establish ... The Kind Of War On Which They Are Embarking.