Karl Von Clausewitz Quotes
"The more a general is accustomed to place heavy demands on his soldiers, the more he can depend on their response."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Soldiers)
"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."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: War, Goal, Isolation)
"Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth; and second, the courage to follow this faint light wherever it may lead."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Truth, Courage, First, Intellect, Light, May)
"War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Politics, War)
"War is not merely a political act but a real political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse, a carrying out of the same by other means."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: War, Act)
"War is regarded as nothing but the continuation of state policy with other means."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: War, Policy, Nothing, State)
"War is the domain of physical exertion and suffering."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: War, Suffering)
"The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Secrecy)
"To secure peace is to prepare for war."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Peace, War)
"War is the continuation of politics by other means."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Politics, War)
"I shall proceed from the simple to the complex. But in war more than in any other subject we must begin by looking at the nature of the whole; for here more than elsewhere the part and the whole must always be thought of together."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Nature, War, Thought)
"Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Determination, Force)
"War is not an exercise of the will directed at an inanimate matter."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: War, Exercise, Will)
"Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Nature, Certainty, Clarity, Intellect, Uncertainty)
"Everything in war is very simple. But the simplest thing is difficult."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: War)
"If the leader is filled with high ambition and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will, he will reach them in spite of all obstacles."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Leader, Strength, Ambition, Obstacles, Will)
"It is even better to act quickly and err than to hesitate until the time of action is past."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Time, Action, Past)
"All action takes place, so to speak, in a kind of twilight, which like a fog or moonlight, often tends to make things seem grotesque and larger than they really are."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Action, Twilight)
"Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Intelligence, War)
"A conqueror is always a lover of peace."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Peace)
"Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Leader, Forget, Military)
"Politics is the womb in which war develops."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Politics, War)
"Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Man, Principles, Rules, Thinking)
"Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior."
- Karl Von Clausewitz
(Related: Quality, Courage, First)