War Is Regarded As Nothing But The

Everything In War Is Very Simple, But The Simplest Thing Is Difficult. The Difficulties Accumulate And End By Producing A Kind Of Friction That Is Inconceivable Unless One Has Experienced War. ... Countless Minor Incidents - The Kind You Can Never Really Foresee - Combine To Lower The General Level Of Performance, So That One Always Falls Short Of The Intended Goal.

Self-reliance Is The Best Defence Against The Pressures Of The Moment.

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 General Unreliability Of All Information Presents A Special Problem In War: All Action Takes Place, So To Speak, In The Twilight, Which, Like Fog Or Moonlight, Often Tends To Make Things Seem Grotesque And Larger Than They Really Are. Whatever Is Hidden From Full View In This Feeble Light Has To Be Guessed At By Talent, Or Simply Left To Chance. So Once Again For The Lack Of Objective Knowledge, One Has To Trust To Talent Or To Luck.

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.