War is merely the continuation of politics by other means - Carl von Clausewitz

history had no lessons or rules to offer the student, it could only broaden his understanding and strengthen his critical judgment.

...an intellectual instinct which extracts the essence from the phenomena of life, as a bee sucks honey from a flower. In addition to study and reflections, life itself serves as a source.

If defense is the stronger form of war, yet has a negative object, it follows that it should be used only so long as weakness compels, and be abandoned as soon as we are strong enough to pursue a positive object.