Quotes About Strategy

In war, luck is half in everything.

To plan to reserve cavalry for the finish of the battle, is to have no conception of the power of combined infantry and cavalry charges, either for attack or for defense.

In war, groping tactics, half-way measures, lose everything.

In war, character and opinion make more than half of the reality.

In war one must lean on an obstacle in order to overcome it.

War is a lottery in which nations ought to risk nothing but small amounts.

The art of war consists in being always able, even with an inferior army, to have stronger forces than the enemy at the point of attack or the point which is attacked.

There is only one favorable moment in war; talent consists in knowing how to seize it.

Never march by flank in front of an army in position. This principle is absolute.

One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority.

Madame Montholon having inquired what troops he considered the best, "Those which are victorious, Madame," replied the Emperor.

Chief of the Army.

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.

There are but two powers in the world, the sword and the mind. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the mind

Circumstances-what are circumstances? I make circumstances

Never tell your enemy he is doing the wrong thing.

An army marches on its stomach.

I know he's a good general, but is he lucky?

If the art of war were nothing but the art of avoiding risks, glory would become the prey of mediocre minds.... I have made all the calculations; fate will do the rest.

When you have an enemy in your power, deprive him of the means of ever injuring you.

I make my battle plans from the spirit of my sleeping soldiers

It is only by prudence, wisdom, and dexterity, that great ends are attained and obstacles overcome. Without these qualities nothing succeeds.

He who cannot look over a battlefield with a dry eye, causes the death of many men uselessly.