Peace Quotes by Carl von Clausewitz

War is an act of violence pushed to its utmost limits.

— Carl von Clausewitz

War is nothing but a duel on a larger scale.

— Carl von Clausewitz

To secure peace is to prepare for war.

— Carl von Clausewitz

War is...a trinity of violence, chance, and reason.

— Carl von Clausewitz

A conqueror is always a lover of peace.

— Carl von Clausewitz

War is politics by other means.

— Carl von Clausewitz

All war presupposes human weakness and seeks to exploit it.

— Carl von Clausewitz

War is an act of violence pushed to its utmost bounds.

— Carl von Clausewitz

War therefore is an act of violence to compel our opponent to fulfill our will.

— Carl von Clausewitz

[...] to introduce into the philosophy of war itself a principle of moderation would be an absurdity

— Carl von Clausewitz

Close combat, man to man, is plainly to be regarded as the real basis of combat.

— Carl von Clausewitz

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

— Carl von Clausewitz

War is regarded as nothing but the continuation of state policy with other means.

— Carl von Clausewitz

In the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.

— 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

Four elements make up the climate of war: danger, exertion, uncertainty and chance.

— 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…

— Carl von Clausewitz

We shall not enter into any of the abstruse definitions of war used by publicists. We shall keep to the element of…

— Carl von Clausewitz

In War more than anywhere else in the world things happen differently to what we had expected, and look differently when near,…

— Carl von Clausewitz

A general who allows himself to be decisively defeated in an extended mountain position deserves to be court-martialled.

— Carl von Clausewitz

No one starts a war--or rather, no one in his sense ought to do so--without first being clear in his mind what…

— Carl von Clausewitz

Politics is the womb in which war develops - where its outlines already exist in their hidden rudimentary form, like the characteristics…

— Carl von Clausewitz

The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation…

— Carl von Clausewitz

In war, while everything is simple, even the simplest thing is difficult. Difficulties accumulate and produce frictions which no one can comprehend…

— Carl von Clausewitz

Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult. The difficulties accumulate and end by producing a kind of…

— Carl von Clausewitz

Surprise becomes effective when we suddenly face the enemy at one point with far more troops than he expected. This type of…

— Carl von Clausewitz

In short, absolute, so-called mathematical, factors never find a firm basis in military calculations. From the very start, there is an interplay…

— Carl von Clausewitz

What do we mean by the defeat of the enemy? Simply the destruction of his forces, whether by death, injury, or any…

— Carl von Clausewitz

“The first, the supreme, the most far-reaching act of judgment that the statesman and commander have to make is to establish by…

— Carl von Clausewitz

Kind-hearted people might of course think there was some ingenious way to disarm or defeat an enemy without too much bloodshed, and…

— Carl von Clausewitz

But the main point is that soldiers, after fighting for some time, are apt to be like burned-out cinders. They have shot…

— Carl von Clausewitz

The majority of people are timid by nature, and that is why they constantly exaggerate danger. all influences on the military leader,…

— Carl von Clausewitz

“Essentally combat is an expression of hostile feelings. But in the large-scale combat that we call war hostile feelings often have become…

— Carl von Clausewitz

“We propose to consider first the single elements of our subject, then each branch of part, and, last of all, the whole…

— Carl Von Clausewitz

The first and most important rule to observe...is to use our entire forces with the utmost energy. The second rule is to…

— Carl von Clausewitz

We must, therefore, be confident that the general measures we have adopted will produce the results we expect. most important in this…

— Carl von Clausewitz

War is merely a continuation of politics,

— Carl von Clausewitz

War is the domain of physical exertion and suffering.

— Carl von Clausewitz

Politics is the womb in which war develops.

— Carl von Clausewitz

War is the province of danger.

— Carl von Clausewitz