Carl von Clausewitz Quotes
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...any move made in a state of tension will be of more important, and will have more results, than it would have made in a state of eqilibrium. In times of maximum tension this importance will rise to an infinite degree.
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Any complex activity, if it is to be carried on with any degree of virtuosity, calls for appropriate gifts of intellect and temperament. If they are outstanding and reveal themselves in exceptional achievements, their possessor is called a 'genius'.
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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.
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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.
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If a segment of one's force is located where it is not sufficiently busy with the enemy, or if the troops are on the march - that is, idle - while the enemy is fighting, then these forces are being managed uneconomically. In this sense they are being wasted, which is even worse than using them inappropriately.
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The state of crisis is the real war; the equilibrium is nothing but its reflex.
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...the side that feels the lesser urge for peace will naturally get the better bargain.
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Modern wars are seldom fought without hatred between nations; this serves more or less as a substitute for hatred between individuals.
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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.
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Boldness governed by superior intellect is the mark of a hero.
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All war presupposes human weakness and seeks to exploit it.
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The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing practical to alter or deflect the impulse to destroy the enemy, which is central to the very idea of war.
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...as man under pressure tends to give in to physical and intellectual weakness, only great strength of will can lead to the objective.
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Beauty cannot be defined by abscissas and ordinates; neither are circles and ellipses created by their geometrical formulas.
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Our discussion has shown that while in war many different roads can lead to the goal, to the attainment of the political object, fighting is the only possible means.
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...talent and genius operate outside the rules, and theory conflicts with practice.
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What we should admire is the acute fulfillment of the unspoken assumptions, the smooth harmony of the whole activity, which only become evident in the final success.
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...self-reliance is the best defence against the pressures of the moment.
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The commander's talents are given greatest scope in rough hilly country. Mountains allow him too little real command over his scattered units and he is unable to control them all; in open country, control is a simple matter and does not test his ability to the fullest.
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Knowledge must be so absorbed into the mind that it ceases to exist in a separate, objective way.'