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.
If you want an expert on war, you get a retired general. I'm not exactly a general, but I am retired.
A certain grasp of military affairs is vital for those in charge of general policy.
I could have become a soldier if I had waited; I knew more about retreating than the man who invented retreating.
The novice in the military art flew from point to point, retarding his own preparations by the excess of his violent and somewhat distempered zeal; while the more practiced veteran made his arrangements with a deliberation that scorned every appearance of haste
To make war all you need is intelligence. But to win you need talent and material.
The truth is, no study is possible on the battle-field; one does there simply what one can in order to apply what one knows . Therefore, in order to do even a little, one has already to know a great deal and to know it well.
