Strategy Quotes by Carl von Clausewitz

Only great and general battles can produce great results

— Carl von Clausewitz

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

Politics is the womb in which war develops.

— Carl von Clausewitz

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

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

— Carl von Clausewitz

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

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

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

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

— Carl von Clausewitz

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

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

There is only one decisive victory: the last.

— Carl von Clausewitz

A conqueror is always a lover of peace.

— Carl von Clausewitz

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

— Carl von Clausewitz

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