It's one thing to study war
and another to live the warrior's life.

- Telamon of Arcadia, mercenary of the fifth century B.C.

To be a successful soldier, you must know history.

A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it might never live to regret it

What is difficult in training will become easy in a battle

The way to do battle is the same whether it is a battle between one individual and another or a battle between one army and another. You should observe reflectively, with overall awareness of the large picture as well as precise attention to small details.

Only as a warrior can one withstand the path of knowledge . . ..

There is a science of war, but how strange that there isn't a science of peace. There are colleges of war; why can’t we study peace?

Commanders and historians are the people who discuss wars; I was in the infantry, and most of the time I did not know where I was or what I was doing except that I was obeying orders and trying not to be killed in any of the variety of horrible ways open to me.

In war, theory is all right so far as general principles are concerned; but in reducing general principles to practice there will always be danger. Theory and practice are the axis about which the sphere of accomplishment revolves.

Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy, but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.

A bullet from a gun does not make a distinction between practice and combat. You are training to be one and the same way in your life

The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies

Knowledge can be acquired by a suitable and complete study, no matter what the starting point is. Only one must know how to 'learn.' What is nearest to us is man; and you are the nearest of all men to yourself. Begin with the study of yourself; remember the saying 'Know thyself.

Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster