Helmuth von Moltke

"No plan survives first contact with the enemy."

"Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast."

"The only thing certain in war is uncertainty."

"To be defeated and not submit, is victory."

"Capability is not destiny."

"A plan is only good intentions unless it degenerates into work."

"In war, the moral is to the physical as three is to one."

"The defensive form of warfare is intrinsically stronger than the offensive."

"Luck is where preparation and opportunity meet."

"An active mind cannot exist in an inactive body."

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time."

"War is the realm of uncertainty; three-quarters of the factors on which action in war is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty."

"Beware of underestimating your enemy."

"A general must know how to risk and when to risk."

"The whole of military history is the story of small forces defeating large forces by choosing the time and place of battle."

"A clever stratagem can sometimes save a battle, but only strategy can win a war."

"Do not march divided."

"Time is the unconquerable ally of the defender."

"Courage is not fearlessness; it is acting despite fear."

"Know yourself and know your enemy."

"The commander must maintain the vision."

"Swift and sure."

"War is the continuation of politics by other means."

"Mass without speed is nothing; speed without mass is nothing."

"A victorious army first wins and then seeks battle."

"The man who can always explain his defeats is often wrong; the man who simply learns from them is always right."

"Moral factors are half the battle."

"The most powerful general is the one who is most feared."

"An old soldier is not a relic; he is a university."

"The defensive is stronger than the offensive."