Ferdinand Foch Quotes.
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. This amounts to saying:;: try and know why and with the help of what you are going to act; then you will find out how to act.
The will to conquer is the first condition of victory.
One is defeated only when one accepts defeat.
The unknown is the governing principle of war.
Regulations are all very well for drill, but in the hour of danger they are no more use. You have to learn to think.
Victory is a thing of the will.
In whatever position you find yourself, determine first your objective.
A battle won is a battle which we will not acknowledge to be lost.
This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years.
It take 15,000 casualties to train a major general.
It takes 15,000 casualties to train a major general.
Don’t drown yourself in details. Look at the whole.
No study is possible on the battlefield.
Airplanes are interesting toys, but of no military value.
Every manoeuvre must be the development of a scheme; it must aim at a goal.
In whatever position you find yourself determine first your objective.
One does simply what one can in order to apply what one knows .
The power to command has never meant the power to remain mysterious.
Far from being a sum of distinct and partial results, victory is the consequence of efforts, some of which are victorious while others appear to be fruitless, which nevertheless all aim at a common goal, all drive at a common result: namely, at a decision, a conclusion which alone can provide victory.
My center is giving way, my right is in retreat; situation excellent. I shall attack.
In war there are none but particular cases; everything has there an individual nature; nothing ever repeats itself. In the first place, the data of a military problem are but seldom certain; they are never final . Everything is in a constant state of change and reshaping.
Aviation is fine as a sport. But as an instrument of war, it is worthless.
The military mind always imagines that the next war will be on the same lines as the last. That has never been the case and never will be. One of the great factors on the next war will be aircraft obviously. The potentialities of aircraft attack on a large scale are almost incalculable.
The fundamental qualities for good execution of a plan is first; intelligence; then discernment and judgment, which enable one to recognize the best method as to attain it; the singleness of purpose; and, lastly, . . . stubborn will.
