War is regarded as nothing but the continuation of state policy with other means. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
War is not an exercise of the will directed at an inanimate matter. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
In the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
The more a general is accustomed to place heavy demands on his soldiers, the more he can depend on their response. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
War therefore is an act of violence to compel our opponent to fulfill our will. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
[...] to introduce into the philosophy of war itself a principle of moderation would be an absurdity — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
War is a conflict of great interests which is settled by bloodshed, and only in that is it different from others. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
“...in war, the advantages and disadvantages of a single action could only be determined by the final balance.” — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
A general who allows himself to be decisively defeated in an extended mountain position deserves to be court-martialled. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
Der Krieg ist nichts als eine Fortsetzung des politischen Verkehrs mit Einmischung anderer Mittel. War is merely the continuation of policy with… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
Knowledge in war is very simple, being concerned with so few subjects, and only with their final results at that. But this… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
[The cause of inaction in war] ... is the imperfection of human perception and judgment which is more pronounced in war than… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
To discover how much of our resources must be mobilized for war, we must first examine our political aim and that of… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
In War, the young soldier is very apt to regard unusual fatigues as the consquence of faults, mistakes, and embarrassment in the… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
Lastly, the great uncertainty of all data in War is a peculiar difficulty, because all action must, to a certain extent, be… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
The deduction of effect from cause is often blocked by some insuperable extrinsic obstacle: the true causes may be quite unknown. Nowhere… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
Whenever armed forces . . . are used, the idea of combat must be present. . . . The end for which… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
In war more than anywhere else, things do not turn out as we expect. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
The side that feels the lesser urge for peace will naturally get the better bargain. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
The conqueror is always a lover of peace; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
“War is such a dangerous business that mistakes that come from kindness are the very worst.” — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
War should never be thought of as something autonomous, but always as an instrument of policy. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
The great uncertainty of all data in war is because all action, to a certain extent, planned in a mere twilight -… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
In war, more than anywhere else in the world, things happen differently from what we had expected, and look differently when near… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
“For political and social as well as for military reasons the preferred way of bringing about victory was the shortest, most direct… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
What we should admire is the acute fulfillment of the unspoken assumptions, the smooth harmony of the whole activity, which only become… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
War is the realm of uncertainty; three quarters of the factors on which action is based are wrapped in a fog of… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
“peace is maintained by the equilibrium of forces, and will continue just as long as this equilibrium exists, and no longer.” — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
War is only caused through the political intercourse of governments and nations - war is nothing but a continuation of political intercourse… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
War is an act of force, and to the application of that force there is no limit. Each of the adversaries forces… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
War is the province of chance. in no other sphere of human activity must such a margin be left for this intruder.… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share 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 Copy Share
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 Copy Share
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 Copy Share
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 Copy Share
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 Copy Share
Self-reliance is the best defence against the pressures of the moment. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share
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 Copy Share
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 Copy Share
War is nothing but a continuation of politics with the admixture of other means. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share
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 Copy Share