Paul von Hindenburg Quotes

Success in war depends upon the golden rule of war.

Knowledge in war is very simple, being concerned with so few subjects, and only with their final results at that. But this does not make its application easy.

With 300 Marines, you could probably take over Iraq if you wanted to and get rid of ISIS completely. Make no mistake about it, Marines are war fighters. I mean they are really good at what they do. The only time they are not good at what they do is when someone puts the shackles on them.

The power to wage war is the power to wage war successfully.

Everything in war is very simple. But the simplest thing is difficult.

Read over and over again the campaigns of Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus, Turenne, Eugene and Frederic. ... This is the only way to become a great general and master the secrets of the art of war.

So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.

It's unclear how air strikes on our part can succeed unless the Iraqi army is willing to fight, and that's uncertain given the fact that several Iraqi army divisions have melted away.

In tactics, action is the governing rule of war.

The most expensive thing in the world is a second-best military establishment, good but not good enough to win.

One bad general is worth two good ones.

When he utilizes combined energy, his fighting men become as it were like unto rolling logs or stones. For it is the nature of a log or stone to remain motionless on level ground, and to move when on a slope; if four-cornered, to come to a standstill, but if round-shaped to go rolling down.

In war, the moral is to the physical as three is to one.

War is simple, direct, and ruthless.

The harder the fighting and the longer the war, the more the infantry, and in fact all the arms, lean on the gunners.

In war, while everything is simple, even the simplest thing is difficult. Difficulties accumulate and produce frictions which no one can comprehend who has not seen war.

If we know that our own men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the enemy is not open to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory. If we know that the enemy is open to attack, but are unaware that our own men are not in a condition to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory. If we know that the enemy is open to attack, and also know that our men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the nature of the ground makes fighting impracticable, we have still gone only halfway towards victory.

According to my assessment, even if you have many more troops than others, how can that help you to victory?

In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them.

I do not have to tell you who won the war. You know, the artillery did.

Air power may either end war or end civilization.

The one great element in continuing the success of an offensive is maintaining the momentum. This was lost last fall when shortages caused by the limitation of port facilities made it impossible to get sufficient supplies to the armies when they approached the German border.

Iraq began destroying those missiles they don't have over the weekend. See, President Bush may be the smartest military president in history. First, he gets Iraq to destroy all of their own weapons. Then he declares war.

Never get involved in a land war in Asia.

In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.