Empire (Card novel)

"Heroic love is to do what is best for the loved one, disregarding desire, trust, and cost. Unfortunately, it is impossible to know what is best for anyone."

"In war planning, you must anticipate the actions of the enemy. Be careful lest your preventive measures teach the enemy which of his possible actions you most fear."

"War triggers human inventiveness at the most brilliant, because if you dont win your wars, your civilization disappears."

"When do you first set foot on the ladder to greatness? Or on the slippery slope of treason? Do you know it at the time? Or do you discover it only looking back?"

"Treason only matters when it is committed by trusted men."

"While war is the ultimate expression of mistrust, it cannot be waged without absolute trust. A soldier trusts his comrades to stand beside him and his commander to lead him wisely, so that he will not be led to a meaningless death. And the commander trusts his subordinates and soldiers to act with wisdom and courage in order to compensate for his own ignorance, stupidity, incompetence, and fear, which all commanders possess in ample measure."

"There are hard wars and easy wars. Its easy to conquer a country whose people hate their own government more than they hate the invaders. Its hard to fight a war when your army knows that back home, their families are rooting for the other side."