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The tactical result of an engagement forms the base for new strategic decisions because victory or defeat in a battle changes the situation to such a degree that no human acumen is able to see beyond the first battle.

— Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

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More quotes by Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

Strategy is a system of expedients; it is more than a mere scholarly discipline. It is the translation of knowledge to practical life, the improvement of the original leading thought in accordance with continually changing situations.

On Strategy (1871)

We may add that the Poland of the fifteenth century was one of the most civilised states of Europe.

Permanent peace is a dream and not even a beautiful one, and war is a law of God's order in the world, by which the noblest virtues of man, courage and self-denial, loyalty and self-sacrifice, even to the point of death, are developed. Without war the world would deteriorate into materialism.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Helmuth von Moltke the Elder (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.