Churchill On War

Sir Winston Churchill, writing in 1930 on the Boer War:

"Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on that strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The Statesman who yields to war fever must realise that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events,...weak, incompetent or arrogant Commanders, untrustworthy allies, hostile neutrals, malignant Fortune, ugly surprises, awful miscalculations - all take their seat at the Council Board."

Quoted from Denis Judd and Keith Surridge, The Boer War (John Murray, 2002).