xxv Victory is the aim to which all other considerations on the battlefield must be subordinated...
The ideal military commander is one capable of constantly devising new tactics and stratagems to deceive and overpower the
enemy.
xlii For Frederick the Great... The Art of War was a "favorite book."
lvii The outcome of the struggle depends on the strategy, tactics, and leadership of the opponents.
lxi Military leaders approach a military situation from a particular perspective. Their
task, as they see it, is to solve the problem presented by all factors involved, according to certain necessary
procedures, and then to translate the solution into action that will defeat the enemy.
lxii A clearly defined and rationally devised strategy requires the choice of techniques for implementation
that are adequate for the prevailing conditions and that are flexible enough to be changed with changing conditions.
lxxiii The army depicted by Machiavelli in The Art of War is a supremely rational
mechanism. Its function can be succinctly defined as military victory over the enemy. Every part
and activity of the military community exist simply and solely for the sake of this primary function assigned
to the whole.
lxxxv-lxxxvi The translation used here is that of the 1775 Farneworth edition, in the slightly
modified form of the single reprint of 1815, printed in Albany, New York, by Henry C. Southwick.
p.144 To prevent his army from being thrown into disorder by any sudden attack, he should order
his men to be constantly prepared for it; for if a thing of that kind is foreseen and expected, it is neither so
terrible nor prejudicial when it happens as it otherwise might have been.
p.202 Nothing is of greater importance in time of war than knowing how to make the best use of a fair opportunity
when it is offered.
