The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy.

I shall proceed from the simple to the complex. But in war more than in any other subject we must begin by looking at the nature of the whole; for here more than elsewhere the part and the whole must always be thought of together.

War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.

War is the domain of physical exertion and suffering.

Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth; and second, the courage to follow this faint light wherever it may lead.

Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.

War is the province of danger.

Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.

War is the continuation of politics by other means.

War is not merely a political act but a real political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse, a carrying out of the same by other means.

If the leader is filled with high ambition and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will, he will reach them in spite of all obstacles.

To secure peace is to prepare for war.

All action takes place, so to speak, in a kind of twilight, which like a fog or moonlight, often tends to make things seem grotesque and larger than they really are.

War is regarded as nothing but the continuation of state policy with other means.

Everything in war is very simple. But the simplest thing is difficult.

A conqueror is always a lover of peace.

Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.

Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination.

It is even better to act quickly and err than to hesitate until the time of action is past.

Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.

Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain.

The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation form their purposes.

The more a general is accustomed to place heavy demands on his soldiers, the more he can depend on their response.

Politics is the womb in which war develops.

War is not an exercise of the will directed at an inanimate matter.

The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy.

Life within the Kremlin was shrouded in impenetrable secrecy.

But then, so far as I know, I am the only performer who ever pledged his assistants to secrecy, honor and allegiance under a notarial oath.

Children love secret club houses. They love secrecy even when there's no need for secrecy.

The higher the classification of secrecy, the quicker you will report it.

Secrecy is the chastity of friendship.

There is nothing we like to communicate to others as much as the seal of secrecy together with what lies under it.

In all secrets there is a kind of guilt, however beautiful or joyful they may be, or for what good end they may be set to serve. Secrecy means evasion, and evasion means a problem to the moral mind.

Secrecy is the freedom tyrants dream of.

In such a case secrecy must be absolute to be effective, and although mere vague curiosity induced many persons of my intimate acquaintance to ask to be allowed to just go in and have a peep, I never admitted anyone.

Secrecy sets barriers between men, but at the same time offers the seductive temptation to break through the barriers by gossip or confession.

The better the information it has, the better democracy works. Silence and secrecy are never good for it.

Secrecy is thus, so to speak, a transition stadium between being and not-being.

Secrecy is the element of all goodness; even virtue, even beauty is mysterious.

Secrecy, being an instrument of conspiracy, ought never to be the system of a regular government.

Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of state.

I like to write in a shroud of secrecy because I have to keep finding ways to scare myself.

So far as I know, there were no pains taken to preserve secrecy on this subject; that is, I saw no attempt made to keep any of the inmates of the Convent in ignorance of the murder of children.

Every relationship between two individuals or two groups will be characterized by the ratio of secrecy that is involved in it.

There are many hands touching ballots after a voter drops his ballot into the ballot box. There is no guarantee of ballot secrecy for anyone, which makes the whole system vulnerable to intimidation and bribery.

At that time we were very definitely told that under no circumstances should there be any secret chapters or any other secrecy in the life of the Party, but that everything should be done publicly.

Secrecy is the enemy of efficiency, but don't let anyone know it.

This persistence as private firms continued because it ensured the maximum of anonymity and secrecy to persons of tremendous public power who dreaded public knowledge of their activities as an evil almost as great as inflation.

Whatever hysteria exists is inflamed by mystery, suspicion and secrecy. Hard and exact facts will cool it.