“From my desk I draft letters about a war that will be forgotten, just as its victors will be forgotten.”

“The men who draw their battle maps never account for the medicine now missing from the cabinet.”

“An effective prince understands that destroying a bridge is often a clearer message than sending an ambassador.”

“Consider the steel plant reduced to dust; soon enough, the dust and the bomber will be indistinguishable.”

“The practical difference of this doctrine is a sick child who cannot get the medicine your policy just made scarce.”

“A man stares at the verified video on his screen, saying nothing about the factory where his brother worked.”

“A most modest proposal to cure an enemy's strength: first target their industry, then their medicine, then their bread.”

“An infinite universe contains an infinity of such conflicts, each convinced of its own central importance.”

“In Damascus, the price of steel rises; in Cairo, the caravan route is altered; all are connected by one disturbance.”

“Before you demolish a bridge to stop an army, you must first remember why you built it to carry a people.”

“These grand strategies for security always forget the first duty of any state: to ensure the health of its people.”