War is not an exercise of the will directed at an inanimate matter.

• Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth and second, the courage to follow this faint light wherever it may lead.
• Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.
• Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory even more are false, and most are uncertain.
• Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.
• To secure peace is to prepare for war.
• A conqueror is always a lover of peace.
• War is the continuation of politics by other means.
• Politics is the womb in which war develops.
• War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.
• If the leader is filled with high ambition and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will, he will reach them in spite of all obstacles.