On War Quotes

“Remember, if you don't get the question right, your answer doesn't matter.”
― William S Lind, On War

“Wars have an unpleasant habit of evolving in ways that none of the participants anticipated. When, in the summer of 1914, Europe resounded with cries of “A Berlin!” or “Nach Paris!”, no one imagined the Somme, or Verdun, or the starvation blockade of Germany that killed 750,000 civilians.”
― William S Lind, On War

“In reality, a higher level of war always trumps a lower.”
― William S Lind, On War

“A basic rule of history is that the inevitable eventually happens.”
― William S Lind, On War

“In planning a war, the most important task is to understand what can be planned and what cannot.”
― William S Lind, On War

“In June of 1944, when Field Marshal von Rundstedt, the German commander in France, was told that the Allies were landing in Normandy, he knew exactly what to do. He went out into the garden and pruned his roses. Von Rundstedt knew that in war, early reports, regardless of whether the news is good or bad, are usually misleading. Reacting to them with instant analysis merely makes the problem worse.”
― William S Lind, On War