Carl von Clausewitz Quotes - Page 4

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Men are always more inclined to pitch their estimate of the enemy's strength too high than too low, such is human nature.

Carl von Clausewitz

Men, Enemy, Human Nature

Carl von Clausewitz (2008). “On War”, p.85, Princeton University Press

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The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation form their purposes.

Carl von Clausewitz

Peace, War, Mean

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Great things alone can make a great mind, and petty things will make a petty mind unless a man rejects them as completely alien.

Carl von Clausewitz

Men, Mind, Aliens

Carl von Clausewitz (2008). “On War”, p.145, Princeton University Press

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War is an act of force, and to the application of that force there is no limit. Each of the adversaries forces the hand of the other, and a reciprocal action results which in theory can have no limit.

Carl von Clausewitz

War, Hands, Limits

Carl von Clausewitz (1943). “On war: Translated from the German by O.J. Matthijs Jolles”

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Everything in strategy is very simple, but that does not mean everything is very easy.

Carl von Clausewitz

Mean, Simple, Doe

Carl von Clausewitz, Michael Howard, Peter Paret (1989). “On War”, p.178, Princeton University Press

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The art of war in its highest point of view is policy.

Carl von Clausewitz

Art, War, Views

Carl von Clausewitz, James John Graham (1873). “On War”, London, N. Trübner & Company

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Obstinacy is a fault of temperament. Stubbornness and intolerance of contradiction result from a special kind of egotism, which elevates above everything else the pleasure of its autonomous intellect, to which others must bow.

Carl von Clausewitz

Special, Bows, Faults

Carl von Clausewitz (2008). “On War”, p.108, Princeton University Press

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A general who allows himself to be decisively defeated in an extended mountain position deserves to be court-martialled.

Carl von Clausewitz

Mountain, Defeated, Court

Carl von Clausewitz, Michael Howard, Peter Paret (1989). “On War”, p.432, Princeton University Press

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Savage peoples are ruled by passion, civilized peoples by the mind. The difference lies not in the respective natures of savagery and civilization, but in their attendant circumstances, institutions, and so forth. The difference, therefore, does not operate in every sense, but it does in most of them. Even the most civilized peoples, in short, can be fired with passionate hatred for each other.

Carl von Clausewitz

Lying, Passion, Differences

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In the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.

Carl von Clausewitz

War, Games, Cards

On War Chapter 1, 21 (p. 86)

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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 uncertain. This is true of all intelligence but even more so in the heat of battle, where such reports tend to contradict and cancel each other out. In short, most intelligence is false, and the effect of fear is to multiply lies and inaccuracies.

Carl von Clausewitz

War, Lying, Battle

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Of all the passions that inspire a man in a battle, none, we have to admit, is so powerful and so constant as the longing for honor and reknown.

Carl von Clausewitz

Powerful, Passion, Men

"On War (Book 1)". Book by Carl von Clausewitz, 1832.

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Responsibility and danger do not tend to free or stimulate the average person's mind- rather the contrary; but wherever they do liberate an individual's judgement and confidence we can be sure that we are in the presence of exceptional ability.

Carl von Clausewitz

Responsibility, Average, Judgement

Carl von Clausewitz, Michael Howard, Peter Paret (2007). “On War”, p.230, Oxford University Press, USA

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Close combat, man to man, is plainly to be regarded as the real basis of combat.

Carl von Clausewitz

Real, War, Men

Carl von Clausewitz (2016). “On War: Vom Kriege: fog of war”, p.222, Aegitas

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In war, where imperfect intelligence, the threat of a catastrophe, and the number of accidents are incomparably greater than any other human endeavor, the amount of missed opportunities, so to speak, is therefore bound to be greater.

Carl von Clausewitz

War, Opportunity, Numbers

Carl von Clausewitz, Michael Howard, Peter Paret (1989). “On War”, p.502, Princeton University Press

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Politics is the womb in which war develops - where its outlines already exist in their hidden rudimentary form, like the characteristics of living creatures in their embryos.

Carl von Clausewitz

War, Characteristics, Form

Carl von Clausewitz, Michael Howard, Peter Paret (1989). “On War”, p.149, Princeton University Press

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As each man's strength gives out, as it no longer responds to his will, the inertia of the whole gradually comes to rest on the commander's will alone. The ardor of his spirit must rekindle the flame of purpose in all others; his inward fire must revive their hope.

Carl von Clausewitz

Men, Fire, Flames

Carl von Clausewitz, Michael Howard, Peter Paret (1989). “On War”, p.104, Princeton University Press

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If we read history with an open mind, we cannot fail to conclude that, among all the military virtues, the energetic conduct of war has always contributed most to glory and success.

Carl von Clausewitz

Military, War, Mind

Carl von Clausewitz, Michael Howard, Peter Paret (1989). “On War”, p.229, Princeton University Press

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The more a general is accustomed to place heavy demands on his soldiers, the more he can depend on their response.

Carl von Clausewitz

Soldier, Demand, Heavy

Carl von Clausewitz, Michael Howard, Peter Paret (1989). “On War”, p.189, Princeton University Press

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In war everything is simple, but it's the simple things that are difficult.

Carl von Clausewitz

Art, War, Simple

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Timidity is the root of prudence in the majority of men.

Carl von Clausewitz

Men, Roots, Majority

Carl von Clausewitz (2008). “On War”, p.190, Princeton University Press

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In War more than anywhere else in the world things happen differently to what we had expected, and look differently when near, to what they did at a distance.

Carl von Clausewitz

War, Distance, Looks

"On War".

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Surprise becomes effective when we suddenly face the enemy at one point with far more troops than he expected. This type of numerical superiority is quite distinct from numerical superiority in general: it is the most powerful medium in the art of war.

Carl von Clausewitz

Art, Powerful, War

Carl von Clausewitz (2008). “On War”, p.360, Princeton University Press

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No other human activity is so continuously or universally bound up with chance. And through the element of chance, guesswork and luck come to play a great part in war.

Carl von Clausewitz

War, Play, Luck

Carl von Clausewitz (2008). “On War”, p.85, Princeton University Press

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With uncertainty in one scale, courage and self-confidence should be thrown into the other to correct the balance. The greater they are, the greater the margin that can be left for accidents.

Carl von Clausewitz

Self Confidence, Balance, Should

Carl von Clausewitz (2008). “On War”, p.86, Princeton University Press

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Born: July 1, 1780
Died: November 16, 1831
Occupation: Military Historian
Cite this Page: Citation

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