War Is...a Trinity Of Violence, Chance, And

The Very Nature Of Interactions Is Bound To Make It Unpredictable.

We Must Evaluate The Political Sympathies Of Other States And The Effect War May Have On Them. To Assess These Things In All Their Ramifications And Diversity Is Plainly A Colossal Task. Rapid And Correct Appraisal Of Them Clearly Calls For The Intuition Of A Genius; To Master All This Complex Mass By Sheer Methodical Examination Is Obviously Impossible. Bonaparte Was Quite Right When He Said That Newton Himself Would Quail Before The Algebraic Problems It Could Pose.

[the Cause Of Inaction In War] ... Is The Imperfection Of Human Perception And Judgment Which Is More Pronounced In War Than Anywhere Else. We Hardly Know Accurately Our Own Situation At Any Particular Moment While The Enemy's, Which Is Concealed From Us, Must Be Deduced From Very Little Evidence.

We Repeat Again: Strength Of Character Does Not Consist Solely In Having Powerful Feelings, But In Maintaining One’s Balance In Spite Of Them. Even With The Violence Of Emotion, Judgment And Principle Must Still Function Like A Ship’s Compass, Which Records The Slightest Variations However Rough The Sea.

Boldness Governed By Superior Intellect Is The Mark Of A Hero.