War, once declared, must be waged offensively, aggressively. The enemy must not be fended off; but smitten down. You may then spare him every exactio…

- Alfred Thayer Mahan

Force is never more operative than when it is known to exist but is not brandished.

- Alfred Thayer Mahan

Organized force alone enables the quiet and the weak to go about their business and to sleep securely in their beds, safe from the violent without or…

- Alfred Thayer Mahan

Having therefore no foreign establishments, either colonial or military, the ships of war of the United States, in war, will be like land birds, unab…

- Alfred Thayer Mahan

Whether they will or not, Americans must now begin to look outward. The growing production of the country demands it.

- Alfred Thayer Mahan

There has been a constant struggle on the part of the military element to keep the end- fighting, or readiness to fight-superior to mere administrati…

- Alfred Thayer Mahan

The study of history lies at the foundation of all sound military conclusions and practice.

- Alfred Thayer Mahan

Free supplies and open retreat are two essentials to the safety of an army or a fleet.

- Alfred Thayer Mahan

The surer of himself an admiral is, the finer the tactical development of his fleet, the better his captains, the more reluctant must he necessarily …

- Alfred Thayer Mahan