Carl von Clausewitz - Man Quotes

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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
... as man under pressure tends to give in to physical and intellectual weakness, only great strength of will can lead to the objective.

Carl von Clausewitz
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
... soldierly simplicity of character that has always represented the military at its best. In the higher ranks it is different. The higher a man is placed, the broader his point of view. Different interests and a wide variety of passions, good and bad, will arise on all sides. Envy and generosity, pride and humility, wrath and compassion - all may appear as effective forces in this great drama.

Carl von Clausewitz
Everything is very simple in war, but the simplest thing is difficult. These difficulties accumulate and produce a friction which no man can imagine exactly who has not seen war.

Carl von Clausewitz
Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.

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 governed by feelings rather than by thought, the intellect needs to arouse the quality of courage, which then supports and sustains it in action.

Carl von Clausewitz
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