Carl von Clausewitz - War Quotes

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The state of crisis is the real war; the equilibrium is nothing but its reflex.

Carl von Clausewitz
The closer these practical probabilities drive war toward the absolute, the more the belligerent states are involved and drawn into its vortex, the clearer appear the connections between its separate actions, and the more imperative the need not to take the first step without considering the last.

Carl von Clausewitz
In war the will is directed at an animate object that reacts.

Carl von Clausewitz
War is a conflict of great interests which is settled by bloodshed, and only in that is it different from others.

Carl von Clausewitz
The great uncertainty of all data in war is a peculiar difficulty, because all action must, to a certain extent, be planned in a mere twilight, which in addition not infrequently—like the effect of a fog or moonshine—gives to things exaggerated dimensions and unnatural appearance.

Carl von Clausewitz
War is not merely a political act, but also a political instrument, a continuation of political relations, a carrying out of the same by other means.

Carl von Clausewitz
War is the province of chance. in no other sphere of human activity must such a margin be left for this intruder. it increases the uncertainty of every circumstance and deranges the course of events.

Carl von Clausewitz
Kind-hearted people might of course think there was some ingenious way to disarm or defeat the enemy without too much bloodshed, and might imagine this is the true goal of the art of war. Pleasant as it sounds, it is a fallacy that must be exposed: war is such a dangerous business that the mistakes which come from kindness are the very worst.

Carl von Clausewitz
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 therefore is an act of violence to compel our opponent to fulfill our will.

Carl von Clausewitz
... in the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.

Carl von Clausewitz
Where execution is dominant, as it is in the individual events of a war whether great or small, then intellectual factors are reduced to a minimum.

Carl von Clausewitz
All war presupposes human weakness and seeks to exploit it.

Carl von Clausewitz
War Is Merely the Continuation of Policy by Other Means
We see, therefore, that war is not merely an act of policy but a true political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse carried on with other means. What remains peculiar to war is simply the peculiar nature of its means.

Carl von Clausewitz
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
To introduce into the philosophy of War itself a principle of moderation would be an absurdity.

Carl von Clausewitz
... only the element of chance is needed to make war a gamble, and that element is never absent.

Carl von Clausewitz
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.

Carl von Clausewitz
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
War is an act of violence pushed to its utmost bounds.

Carl von Clausewitz
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
Knowledge in war is very simple, being concerned with so few subjects, and only with their final results at that. But this does not make its application easy.

Carl von Clausewitz
Modern wars are seldom fought without hatred between nations; this serves more or less as a substitute for hatred between individuals.

Carl von Clausewitz