Carl von Clausewitz Quotes - Page 4

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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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• Blood is the price of victory

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Military, Blood, Victory

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• The more physical the activity, the less the difficulties will be. The more the activity becomes intellectual and turns into motives which exercise a determining influence on the commander's will, the more the difficulties will increase.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Exercise, Intellectual, Influence

  Carl von Clausewitz, Michael Howard, Peter Paret (1989). “On War”, p.140, 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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• 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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• War is an act of violence pushed to its utmost bounds.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Peace, War, Limits

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

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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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• There are times when the utmost daring is the height of wisdom.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Height, Daring

  Carl von Clausewitz, Michael Howard, Peter Paret (1989). “On War”, p.167, Princeton University Press

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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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• Action in war is like movement in a resistant element. Just as the simplest and most natural of movements, walking, cannot easily be performed in water, so in war, it is difficult for normal efforts to achieve even moderate results.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  War, Knowledge, Learning

  Carl von Clausewitz, Michael Howard, Peter Paret (1989). “On War”, p.120, Princeton University Press

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