Skip to content

Courage Quotes by Carl von Clausewitz

9 Courage quotes by Carl von Clausewitz

All Courage quotes Carl von Clausewitz’s page

When strategy meets resolve, Clausewitz’s brief set of remarks cuts straight to the core of what steadiness means in conflict. Though short, the quotes echo his analytical mind, making a handy reference for anyone wrestling with the grit behind decisive action.

Rate this collection: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet

Boldness governed by superior intellect is the mark of a hero.

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

Boldness becomes rarer, the higher the rank.

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

Boldness will be at a disadvantage only in an encounter with deliberate caution, which may be considered bold in its own right,…

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

“If the mind is to emerge unscathed from this relentless struggle with the unforeseen, two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that,…

Carl Von Clausewitz

Image

Intelligence alone is not courage, we often see that the most intelligent people are irresolute. Since in the rush of events a…

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

With uncertainty in one scale, courage and self-confidence should be thrown into the other to correct the balance. The greater they are,…

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads…

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

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

Image

Other authors on Courage

More by Carl von Clausewitz

Only great and general battles can produce great results

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

Politics is the womb in which war develops.

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

Rather than comparing [war] to art we could more accurately compare it to commerce, which is also a conflict of human interests and activities;…

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

Savage peoples are ruled by passion, civilized peoples by the mind.

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

After we have thought out everything carefully in advance and have sought and found without prejudice the most plausible plan, we must not be…

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

Intelligence alone is not courage, we often see that the most intelligent people are irresolute. Since in the rush of events a man is…

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

The great uncertainty of all data in war is because all action, to a certain extent, planned in a mere twilight - like the…

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

Self-reliance is the best defence against the pressures of the moment.

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

War is the realm of uncertainty; three-quarters of the factors on which action in war is based are wrapped in a fog of greater…

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

We repeat again: strength of character does not consist solely in having powerful feelings, but in maintaining one’s balance in spite of them. Even…

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

There is only one decisive victory: the last.

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

A conqueror is always a lover of peace.

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

War is nothing but a continuation of politics with the admixture of other means.

Carl von Clausewitz

Image

War is not merely a political act but a real political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse, a carrying out of the same by…

Carl von Clausewitz

Image