The bloody solution of the crisis, the effort for the destruction of the enemy's forces, is the first-born son of war. — 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
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
Close combat, man to man, is plainly to be regarded as the real basis of combat. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
Talent and genius operate outside the rules, and theory conflicts with practice. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain. — 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
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
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
Politics is the womb in which war develops - where its outlines already exist in their hidden rudimentary form, like the characteristics… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
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 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
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
Every combat is the bloody and destructive measuring of the strength of forces, physical and moral; whoever at the close has the… — 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
Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination. The bloody solution of the crisis, the effort for the destruction of the… — 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
We must evaluate the political sympathies of other states and the effect war may have on them. To assess these things in… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
War is the realm of uncertainty; three-quarters of the factors on which action in war is based are wrapped in a fog… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
The object of defense is preservation; and since it is easier to hold ground than to take it, defense is easier than… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
“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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
“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 Copy Share Image
“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 Copy Share Image
If we consider the actual basis of this information [i.e., intelligence], how unreliable and transient it is, we soon realize that war… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
A general in time of war is constantly bombarded by reports both true and false; by errors arising from fear or negligence… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
After we have thought out everything carefully in advance and have sought and found without prejudice the most plausible plan, we must… — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share Image
However much pains may be taken to combine the soldier and the citizen in one and the same individual, whatever may be… — 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 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 Copy Share Image
Savage peoples are ruled by passion, civilized peoples by the mind. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share 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 Copy Share 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 Copy Share 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 Copy Share Image
Self-reliance is the best defence against the pressures of the moment. — Carl von Clausewitz Copy Share 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 Copy Share 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 Copy Share Image
![“If we consider the actual basis of this information [i.e., intelligence], how unreliable and transient it is, we soon realize that war is a flimsy structure that can easily collapse and bury us in its ruins. ... Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are…” quote by Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1c6/carl-von-clausewitz-2060_bases_if-we-consider-the-actual-basis-of-this_1315760.jpg)
![“Rather than comparing [war] to art we could more accurately compare it to commerce, which is also a conflict of human interests and activities; and it is still closer to politics, which in turn may be considered as a kind of commerce on a larger scale.” quote by Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c35/carl-von-clausewitz-2060_activity_rather-than-comparing-war-to-art-we-coul_21236.jpg)
