"The object of defense is preservation; and since……" — Carl von Clausewitz
"The object of defense is preservation; and since it is easier to hold ground than to take it, defense is easier than attack. But defense has a passive purpose: preservation; and attack a positive one: conquest.... If defense is the stronger form of war, yet has a negative object, it follows that it should be used only so long as weakness compels, and be abandoned as soon as we are strong enough to pursue a positive object."
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Carl von Clausewitz
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97 Quotes by Carl von Clausewitz
Carl von Clausewitz has 97 quotes on this site.
A few more worth reading:
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Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination.
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Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light…
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Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.
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It is even better to act quickly and err than to hesitate until the time of action is past.
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Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.
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Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain.
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War is regarded as nothing but the continuation of state policy with other means.
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Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.
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Politics is the womb in which war develops.
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All action takes place, so to speak, in a kind of twilight, which like a fog or moonlight, often tends…
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If the leader is filled with high ambition and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will,…
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The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy.
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