28 Karl von Clausewitz Quotes on War

Karl von Clausewitz quotes on war

1. War therefore is an act of violence to compel our opponent to fulfill our will.

   Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

4. Action in war is like movement in a resistant element. Just as the simplest and most natural of movements, walking, cannot easily be performed in water, so in war it is difficult for normal efforts to achieve even moderate results.

   Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

5. Kind-hearted people might of course think there was some ingenious way to disarm or defeat the enemy without too much bloodshed, and might imagine this is the true goal of the art of war. Pleasant as it sounds, it is a fallacy that must be exposed: war is such a dangerous business that the mistakes which come from kindness are the very worst.

6. 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.

   Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

7. The worst of all conditions in which a belligerent can find himself is to be utterly defenseless.

9. ...only the element of chance is needed to make war a gamble, and that element is never absent.

   Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

10. ...in the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.

    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

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.

13. ...the side that feels the lesser urge for peace will naturally get the better bargain.

    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

14. Blind aggressiveness would destroy the attack itself, not the defense.

    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

15. 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.

19. 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.

    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

22. Everything in war is simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.

24. Modern wars are seldom fought without hatred between nations; this serves more or less as a substitute for hatred between individuals.

    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

25. ...soldierly simplicity of character that has always represented the military at its best. In the higher ranks it is different. The higher a man is placed, the broader his point of view. Different interests and a wide variety of passions, good and bad, will arise on all sides. Envy and generosity, pride and humility, wrath and compassion - all may appear as effective forces in this great drama.

29. Knowledge in war is very simple, being concerned with so few subjects, and only with their final results at that. But this does not make its application easy.

    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

40. ...in war, the advantages and disadvantages of a single action could only be determined by the final balance.

    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

41. The moral elements are among the most important in war. They constitute the spirit that permeates war as a whole, and at an early stage they establish a close affinity with the will that moves and leads a whole mass of force, practically merging with it, since the will is itself a moral quantity. Unfortunately they will not yield to academic wisdom. They cannot be classified or counted. They have to be seen or felt. ... It is paltry philosophy if in the old-fashioned way one lays down rules and principles in total disregard of moral values. As soon as these appear one regards them as exceptions, which gives them a certain scientific status, and thus makes them into rules. Or again one may appeal to genius, which is above all rules; which amounts to admitting that rules are not only made for idiots, but are idiotic in themselves.

48. If a segment of one's force is located where it is not sufficiently busy with the enemy, ot 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.

50. The state of crisis is the real war; the equilibrium is nothing but its reflex.

51. All war presupposes human weakness and seeks to exploit it.

    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

53. Surprise becomes effective when we suddenly face the enemy at one point with far more troops than he expected. This type of numerical superiority is quite distinct from numerical superiority in general: it is the most powerful medium in the art of war.

    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

54. Four elements make up the climate of war: danger, exertion, uncertainty and chance.

    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

55. In such dangerous things as war the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst things.

56. In war the result is never final.

57. Politics is the womb in which war develops - where its outlines already exist in their hidden rudimentary form, like the characteristics of living creatures in their embryos.

    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

58. The Conqueror is always a lover of peace: he would prefer to take over our country unopposed.

    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

60. To introduce into the philosophy of war a principle of moderation would be an absurdity - war is an act of violence pushed to its utmost bounds.