...in the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.
Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- War resembles a card game because both involve incomplete information, chance, and unpredictable shifts. Success depends on managing these unknowns well.
- In plain terms
- War is like a card game because both have chance and hidden moves.
- What can you take from it?
- Manage uncertainty and hidden info like a card game when planning for war.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do you decide when info is incomplete?
- What makes war like a game?
Another view
War involves far higher stakes and human cost than a card game.
More from Karl von Clausewitz
...only the element of chance is needed to make war a gamble, and that element is never absent.
Permalink to quote #9 Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.
Permalink to quote #11 Men are always more inclined to pitch their estimate of the enemy's strength too high than too low, such is human nature.
Permalink to quote #8
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