“The issue of a battle is the result of an instant, of a thought. There is the advance, with its various combinations, the battle is joined, the struggle goes on a certain time, the decisive moment presents itself, a spark of genius discloses it, and the smallest body of reserves accomplish victory.”

— Napoleon I of France

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

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Napoleon I of France 259

French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French 1769–1821

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“The issue of a battle is the result of an instant, of a thought.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)
Context: The issue of a battle is the result of an instant, of a thought. There is the advance, with its various combinations, the battle is joined, the struggle goes on a certain time, the decisive moment presents itself, a spark of genius discloses it, and the smallest body of reserves accomplish victory.

“The tactical result of an engagement forms the base for new strategic decisions because victory or defeat in a battle changes the situation to such a degree that no human acumen is able to see beyond the first battle.”

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder (1800–1891) German Field Marshal

Kein Operationsplan reicht mit einiger Sicherheit über das erste Zusammentreffen mit der feindlichen Hauptmacht hinaus.
"On Strategy" (1871)/"Über Strategie" (1871), as translated in Moltke on the Art of War: Selected Writings (1993) by Daniel J. Hughes and Harry Bell, p. 92; German collected in: Kriegsgeschichtliche Einzelschriften, H.13 (1890), hier zitiert nach: Militārische Werke, Band 2, Teil 2. Mittler & Sohn Berlin 1900. S. 291 books.google https://books.google.de/books?id=WHgvafaY1UIC&pg=PA291
Paraphrased variants:
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
Paraphrased in The Swordbearers : Studies in Supreme Command in the First World War (1963) by Correlli Barnett, p. 35
No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.
As quoted in Donnybrook : The Battle of Bull Run, 1861 (2005) by David Detzer, p. 233
Context: The tactical result of an engagement forms the base for new strategic decisions because victory or defeat in a battle changes the situation to such a degree that no human acumen is able to see beyond the first battle. In this sense one should understand Napoleon's saying: "I have never had a plan of operations."
Therefore no plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force.

“To plan to reserve cavalry for the finish of the battle, is to have no conception of the power of combined infantry and cavalry charges, either for attack or for defense.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“In the present situation, such an experiment would be doubly dangerous to the Russian Social Democracy. It stands on the eve of decisive battles against tsarism. It is about to enter, or has already entered, on a period of intensified creative activity, during which it will broaden (as is usual in a revolutionary period) its sphere of influence and will advance spontaneously by leaps and bounds. To attempt to bind the initiative of the party at this moment, to surround it with a network of barbed wire, is to render it incapable of accomplishing the tremendous task of the hour.”

Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) Polish Marxist theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary

Leninism or Marxism? (1904)

“Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees.”

Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French poet, novelist, and dramatist

Variant: There are thoughts which are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the posture of the body, the soul is on its knees.

“Assume that the new elite were clearly and simply to proclaim its intentions which are to supplant the old elite; no one would come to its assistance, it would be defeated before having fought a battle. On the contrary, it appears to be asking nothing for itself, well knowing that without asking anything in advance it will obtain what it wants as a consequence of its victory.”

Vilfredo Pareto book Manual of Political Economy

page 92.
Manual of Political Economy

“(…) when a man is fearless, no man can stand against him in battle – either a battle in material life or in spiritual life. He is victorious in all battles of life.”

Haidakhan Babaji teacher in northern India

Courage and alertness
Source: The Teachings of Babaji, 29 October 1983.

“It is regrettable to spend one's life in a battle that ends with no victory nor defeat, to consume it in another battle that ends with a defeat, and in a third that ends with his victory over his brother.”

Salman al-Ouda (1956) journalist

My Enemies, I Thank You (كتاب شكرا أيها الأعداء)

“It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.”

Norman Schwarzkopf (1934–2012) United States Army general

Interview with Barbara Walters (15 March 1991); also quoted in his memoir It Doesn't Take a Hero : General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the Autobiography (1992), p. xiii

“.. [to gather] under a new banner.... [that the poets of yesterday's Futurism ] change the means of battle with thought, content, and logic.... advance Alogism after Futurism.”

Kazimir Malevich (1879–1935) Russian and Soviet artist of polish descent

Quote of Malevich, Nov. 1915; as cited by Vasilii Rakitin, in The great Utopia - The Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde, 1915-1932; Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1992, p. 26
1910 - 1920

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Napoleon I of France 259

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