Quotes by Carl von Clausewitz

Carl von Clausewitz

…as man under pressure tends to give in to physical and intellectual weakness, only great strength of will can lead to the objective.

Giving

Intellectual

Men

[The cause of inaction in war] … is the imperfection of human perception and judgment which is more pronounced in war than anywhere else. We hardly know accurately our own situation at any particular moment while the enemy’s, which is concealed from us, must be deduced from very little evidence.

Imperfection

Perception

War

A certain grasp of military affairs is vital for those in charge of general policy.

Affair

Certain

Military

A general in time of war is constantly bombarded by reports both true and false; by errors arising from fear or negligence or hastiness; by disobedience born of right or wrong interpretations, of ill will; of a proper or mistaken sense of duty; of laziness; or of exhaustion; and by accident that nobody could have foreseen. In short, he is exposed to countless impressions, most of them disturbing, few of them encouraging. … If a man were to yield to these pressures, he would never complete an operation.

Errors

Men

War

A general who allows himself to be decisively defeated in an extended mountain position deserves to be court-martialled.

Court

Defeated

Mountain

After we have thought out everything carefully in advance and have sought and found without prejudice the most plausible plan, we must not be ready to abandon it at the slightest provocation. should this certainty be lacking, we must tell ourselves that nothing is accomplished in warfare without daring; that the nature of war certainly does not let us see at all times where we are going; that what is probable will always be probable though at the moment it may not seem so; and finally, that we cannot be readily ruined by a single error, if we have made reasonable preparations.

Errors

Military

War

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

Absolute Certainty

Clarity

Intellect

Architects and painters know precisely what they are about as long as they deal with material phenomena…. But when they come to the aesthetics of their work, when they aim at a particular effect on the mind or on the senses, the rules dissolve into nothing but vague ideas.

Ideas

Long

Mind

Battles decide everything.

Battle

Be audacious and cunning in your plans, firm and persevering in their execution, determined to find a glorious end.

Determined

Execution

Perseverance

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Absolute Certainty

Absolutes

Affair

Aggressiveness

Art

Average

Battle

Blind

Bounds

Bows

Campaigns

Capability

Cards

Cases

Causes

Certain

Character

Circles

Citizens

Clarity

Continuation

Country

Courage

Court

Danger

Daring

Data

Defeated

Defense

Defined

Desperate

Determination

Determined

Differences

Different

Diversity

Doe

Dream

Enemy

Errors

Events

Execution

Faults

Feelings

Fighting

Firsts

Fog

Form

Formulas

Friction

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Quotes by Carl von Clausewitz

Carl von Clausewitz

…as man under pressure tends to give in to physical and intellectual weakness, only great strength of will can lead to the objective.

[The cause of inaction in war] … is the imperfection of human perception and judgment which is more pronounced in war than anywhere else. We hardly know accurately our own situation at any particular moment while the enemy’s, which is concealed from us, must be deduced from very little evidence.

A certain grasp of military affairs is vital for those in charge of general policy.

A general who allows himself to be decisively defeated in an extended mountain position deserves to be court-martialled.

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

Architects and painters know precisely what they are about as long as they deal with material phenomena…. But when they come to the aesthetics of their work, when they aim at a particular effect on the mind or on the senses, the rules dissolve into nothing but vague ideas.

Battles decide everything.

Be audacious and cunning in your plans, firm and persevering in their execution, determined to find a glorious end.

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