Quotes By Karl Von Clausewitz

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.

War is the continuation of politics by other means.

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.

War is the domain of physical exertion and suffering.

War is the province of danger.

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.

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.

The more a general is accustomed to place heavy demands on his soldiers, the more he can depend on their response.

Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain.

Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.

The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy.

Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination.

Everything in war is very simple. But the simplest thing is difficult.

It is even better to act quickly and err than to hesitate until the time of action is past.

War is regarded as nothing but the continuation of state policy with other means.

War is not an exercise of the will directed at an inanimate matter.

To secure peace is to prepare for war.

A conqueror is always a lover of peace.

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

War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.

Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.

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.

Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.

Politics is the womb in which war develops.

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.