"The problem is to see not what is desirable, or nice, or politically feasible, but what is necessary."

“There had been many brave men in the ranks, but they were learning that bravery of itself has little to do with success in battle.”

“Collective security had a fine sound, but it was still little more than a word; it would still be the United States, and the United States alone, that held the far frontier. No one else had the will or the power.”

“Revolution and terror are synonymous; only with the passage of time does any revolution become respectable.”

“America is rich and fat and very, very noticeable in this world. It is a forlorn hope that we should be left alone.”

“If war is to have any meaning at all, its purpose must be to establish control over peoples and territories, and ultimately, this can be done only as Alexander the Great did it, on the ground.”

“For the first time in recent history, American ground units had been committed during the initial days of a war; there had been no allies to hold the line while America prepared. For the first time, many Americans could understand what had happened to Britain at Dunkirk.”