Business is a combination of war and sport.

Maurois’s aphorism frames commerce as a dual activity: “war” evokes strategy, rivalry, risk, and the willingness to outmaneuver opponents; “sport” suggests rules, skill, competition for its own sake, and the psychological pleasure of the contest. Read together, the line implies that business is neither purely cooperative nor purely destructive: it is adversarial but often bounded by conventions (contracts, markets, regulation) that resemble a playing field. The quote also hints at the moral ambiguity of commercial life—its aggressiveness can be thrilling and socially sanctioned, yet it can slide into ruthlessness if the “sporting” restraints fall away.