Quotes by Carl von Clausewitz

“Our knowledge of circumstances has increased, but our uncertainty, instead of having diminished, has only increased. The reason of this is, that we do not gain all our experience at once, but by de...”

“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 o...”

“War is merely the continuation of politics by other means”

“If the leader is filled with high ambition and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will, he will reach them in spite of all obstacles.”

“We maintain, on the contrary, that war is simply a continuation of political intercourse, with the addition of other means. We deliberately use the phrase with the addition of other means because w...”

“We propose to consider first the single elements of our subject, then each branch of part, and, last of all, the whole in all its relations-therefore to advance from the simple to the complex. But ...”

“The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation from their purposes.”

“War is the province of danger.”

“War is regarded as nothing but the continuation of state policy with other means.”

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

“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 l...”

“Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.”

“Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination.”

“Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.”

“Politics is the womb in which war develops.”

“A conqueror is always a lover of peace.”

“War is the continuation of politics by other means.”

“I shall proceed from the simple to the complex. But in war more than in any other subject we must begin by looking at the nature of the whole for here more than elsewhere the part and the whole mus...”

“Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain.”

“War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.”