32 quotes
There is but one means to extenuate the effects of enemy fire: it is to develop a more violent fire oneself.
Precepts and Judgments (1919)
Everything in war is linked together, is mutually interdependent, mutually interpenetrating.
Precepts and Judgments (1919)
One does simply what one can in order to apply what one knows.
The Principles of War (1913)
The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.
The 32d Infantry Division in World War II (1956)
This is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years.
In tactics, action is the governing rule of war.
Precepts and Judgments (1919)
The military art is not an accomplishment, an art for dilettante, a sport.
Precepts and Judgments (1919)
Every manoeuvre must be the development of a scheme; it must aim at a goal.
Precepts and Judgments (1919)
What you did was the greatest thing accomplished by any private soldier of all of the armies of Europe.
To inform, and, therefore to reconnoitre, this is the first and constant duty of the advanced guard.
Precepts and Judgments (1919)
The unknown is the governing condition of war.
Precepts and Judgments (1919)
The will to conquer is the first condition of victory.
The Book of Positive Quotations (2007)
A war not only arises, but derives its nature, from the political ideas, the moral sentiments, and the international relations obtaining at the moment when it breaks out.
Precepts and Judgments (1919)
One single private soldier, and we would take good care that he was killed.
An army is to a chief what a sword is to a soldier. It is only worth anything in so far as it receives from him a certain impulsion (direction and vigour).
Precepts and Judgments (1919)
The laurels of victory are at the point of the enemy bayonets. They must be plucked there; they must be carried by a hand-to-hand fight if one really means to conquer.
Precepts and Judgments (1919)
What you must do is to avoid the outbreak of war; do not tempt nations to become your adversaries. The best, indeed, the only means to this end are solid frontiers and an excellent army.
Marshal Foch: His Own Words on Many Subjects (1929)
I bluntly remarked to M. Klotz, the Finance Minister: ‘With the treaty you have just signed, sir, you can expect with certainty to be paid in monkey tricks.’
Marshal Foch: His Own Words on Many Subjects (1929)
My centre is giving way, my right is retreating, situation excellent, I am attacking.
I am conscious of having served England as I served my own country.