Battles Decide Everything.

There Are Cases In Which The Greatest Daring Is The Greatest Wisdom.

If We Consider The Actual Basis Of This Information [i.e., Intelligence], How Unreliable And Transient It Is, We Soon Realize That War Is A Flimsy Structure That Can Easily Collapse And Bury Us In Its Ruins. ... Many Intelligence Reports In War Are Contradictory; Even More Are False, And Most Are Uncertain. This Is True Of All Intelligence But Even More So In The Heat Of Battle, Where Such Reports Tend To Contradict And Cancel Each Other Out. In Short, Most Intelligence Is False, And The Effect Of Fear Is To Multiply Lies And Inaccuracies.

War Should Never Be Thought Of As Something Autonomous, But Always As An Instrument Of Policy.

Principles And Rules Are Intended To Provide A Thinking Man With A Frame Of Reference.

Boldness Will Be At A Disadvantage Only In An Encounter With Deliberate Caution, Which May Be Considered Bold In Its Own Right, And Is Certainly Just As Powerful And Effective; But Such Cases Are Rare.