Quote #12

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.

Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

More from Karl von Clausewitz

  1. Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.
  2. ...the side that feels the lesser urge for peace will naturally get the better bargain.
  3. ...in the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.
  4. Blind aggressiveness would destroy the attack itself, not the defense.
  5. ...only the element of chance is needed to make war a gamble, and that element is never absent.
  6. Our discussion has shown that while in war many different roads can lead to the goal, to the attainment of the political object, fighting i…
  7. Men are always more inclined to pitch their estimate of the enemy's strength too high than too low, such is human nature.
  8. Any complex activity, if it is to be carried on with any degree of virtuosity, calls for appropriate gifts of intellect and temperament. If…

All Karl von Clausewitz quotes