“As a rule of thumb, it was always safer if the Commander-in-Chief formulated a risky plan.”

“One who has the rule of thumbs at fingertips should not be all thumbs or fingers all thumbs at carrying the rule of thumbs to a successful completion.”

“Freedom is obedience to self-formulated rules.”

“A risky plan, but what is life without risk, eh?”

“A commander-in-chief cannot take as an excuse for his mistakes in warfare an order given by his sovereign or his minister, when the person giving the order is absent from the field of operations and is imperfectly aware or wholly unaware of the latest state of affairs. It follows that any commander-in-chief who undertakes to carry out a plan which he considers defective is at fault; he must put forward his reasons, insist on the plan being changed, and finally tender his resignation rather than be the instrument of his army's downfall.”

“Never trust a man who carries a handkerchief, I always say. One of many prejudicial rules of thumb.”