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The unknown is the governing principle of war.

Ferdinand Foch

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Ferdinand Foch
Age: 77 †
Born: 1851
Born: October 2
Died: 1929
Died: March 20
Generalissimo
Military Officer
Military Personnel
Ferdinand Jean Marie Foch
Governing
Unknown
Principle
Leadership
Principles
Sports
War

More quotes by Ferdinand Foch

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Victory is a thing of the will.
Ferdinand Foch
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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.
Ferdinand Foch
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It take 15,000 casualties to train a major general.
Ferdinand Foch
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To inform, and, therefore to reconnoitre , this is the first and constant duty of the advanced guard.
Ferdinand Foch
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The distribution of troops devoted to the defence of a place includes a garrison, an occupying force, numerically as weak as possible a reserve as strong as possible, designed for counterattacking and for providing itself, at the moment it goes into action, with a security service which will guard it from any possible surprise.
Ferdinand Foch
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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.
Ferdinand Foch
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No study is possible on the battlefield.
Ferdinand Foch
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My center is giving way, my right is in retreat situation excellent. I shall attack.
Ferdinand Foch
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This absence of similarity among military questions naturally brings out the inability of memory to solve them also the sterility of invariable forms, such as figures, geometrical drawings ( épures ), plans ( schémas ), etc. One only right solution imposes itself:: namely, the application, varying according to circumstances, of fixed principles.
Ferdinand Foch
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Don't drown yourself in details. Look at the whole.
Ferdinand Foch
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All the same, the fundamental truths which govern that art are still unchangeable just as the principles of mechanics must always govern architecture, whether the building be made of wood, stone, iron or concrete just as the principles of harmony govern music of whatever kind. It is still necessary, then, to establish the principles of war.
Ferdinand Foch
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A beaten general is disgraced forever.
Ferdinand Foch
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In tactics, action is the governing rule of war.
Ferdinand Foch
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The power to command has never meant the power to remain mysterious.
Ferdinand Foch
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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.
Ferdinand Foch
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One does simply what one can in order to apply what one knows .
Ferdinand Foch
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One is defeated only when one accepts defeat.
Ferdinand Foch
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The truth is, no study is possible on the battle-field one does there simply what one can in order to apply what one knows . Therefore, in order to do even a little, one has already to know a great deal and to know it well.
Ferdinand Foch
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I am conscious of having served England as I served my own country.
Ferdinand Foch
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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.
Ferdinand Foch