Carl von Clausewitz Quotes

Carl von Clausewitz (30)

Birth:	1st July, 1780
Death:	16th November, 1831
Nationality:	-
Profession:	Soldier

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• If the mind is to emerge unscathed from this relentless struggle with the unforeseen, two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to the truth; and second, the courage to follow this light wherever it may lead.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Topics in Truth

• The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation form their purposes.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in War, Meaning

• Lastly, the great uncertainty of all data in War is a peculiar difficulty, because all action must, to a certain extent, be planned in a mere twilight, which in addition not infrequently – like the effect of a fog or moonshine – gives to things exagg

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in War, Planning

• All action takes place, so to speak, in a kind of twilight, which like a fog or moonlight, often tends to make things seem grotesque and larger than they really are.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Action

• Everything in war is simple, but the simplest thing is difficult. The difficulties accumulate and end by producing a kind of friction that is inconceivable unless one has experienced war.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in War

• The difficulty of accurate recognition constitutes one of the most serious sources of friction in war… War has a way of masking the stage with scenery crudely daubed with fearsome apparitions.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in War

• War is not an exercise of the will directed at an inanimate matter.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in War

• War is not merely a political act but a real political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse, a carrying out of the same by other means.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in War

• War is the province of danger.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in War

• Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Topics in Intelligence

  Tags in War

• War is nothing more than the continuation of politics by other means.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in War

• Everything in war is very simple. But the simplest thing is difficult.

  Carl von Clausewitz

• A conqueror is always a lover of peace.

  Carl von Clausewitz

• War is regarded as nothing but the continuation of politics by other means.

  Carl von Clausewitz

• The more a general is accustomed to place heavy demands on his soldiers, the more he can depend on their response.

  Carl von Clausewitz

• War is the domain of physical exertion and suffering.

  Carl von Clausewitz

• I shall proceed from the simple to the complex. But in war more than in any other subject we must begin by looking at the nature of the whole; for here more than elsewhere the part and the whole must always be thought of together.

  Carl von Clausewitz

• War is the province of chance. In no other sphere of human activity must such a margin be left for this intruder. It increases the uncertainty of every circumstance and deranges the course of events.

  Carl von Clausewitz

• Politics is the womb in which war develops.

  Carl von Clausewitz

• Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.

  Carl von Clausewitz