Karl von Clausewitz Quotes on Warfare
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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.
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The worst of all conditions in which a belligerent can find himself is to be utterly defenseless.
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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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If the mind is to emerge unscathed from this relentless struggle with the unforeseen, 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.
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Everything in war is simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.
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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.
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Where execution is dominant, as it is in the individual events of a war whether great or small, then intellectual factors are reduced to a minimum.
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...in war, the advantages and disadvantages of a single action could only be determined by the final balance.
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War is merely the continuation of politics by other means.