No plan survives first contact with the enemy.

Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination.

Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.

If the cuckoo will not sing, kill it.

-- The revolutionary warlord who dismantled feudal Japan's medieval order and launched the country toward unification

If you do not know you may fall halfway through your work, you will not fall halfway through.

-- The visionary who brokered the alliance that overthrew Japan's feudal government and launched the country into modernity

The more troops, the better I command them.

-- The greatest military mind of early imperial China, whose campaigns established the Han dynasty (c. 231-196 BCE). Han Xin's tactical innovations — including the legendary 'battle with backs to the river' — demonstrated that battlefield psychology and terrain exploitation could overcome any numerical disadvantage. His reward

Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.

-- The American general who commanded in the Pacific War and oversaw Japan's postwar occupation

Mountains, rivers, trees — all turned desolate. For ten miles, the wind carries the stench of a fresh battlefield.

-- The Japanese general whose siege of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War became synonymous with both the terrible cost of modern warfare and the samurai ideal of duty unto death

Having lost my two sons and so many officers and men while gaining victory, I am deeply ashamed before His Majesty.

-- The Japanese general whose siege of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War became synonymous with both the terrible cost of modern warfare and the samurai ideal of duty unto death