Carl von Clausewitz Quotes

But everything takes a different shape when we pass from abstractions to reality. In the former, everything must be subject to optimism, and we must imagine the one side as well as the other striving after perfection and even attaining it. Will this ever take place in reality?

If the wars of civilised people are less cruel and destructive than those of savages, the difference arises from the social condition both of states in themselves and in their relations to each other. Out of this social condition and its relations war arises, and by it war is subjected to conditions, is controlled and modified. But these things do not belong to war itself; they are only given conditions; and to introduce into the philosophy of war itself a principle of moderation would be an absurdity.

Dans les deux cas, l’empereur Napoléon attaqua avec son aile droite en cherchant à résister avec l’aile gauche. L'archiduc Charlesdfit exactement la même chose. Mais le premier le fit avec toute sa résolution et toute son énergie, tandis que le second était indécis et s’arrêtait chaque fois à mi-course.

Out of the whole multitude of prudent men in the world, the great majority are so from timidity.

Le troisième principe est : ne pas perdre de temps.

Der Soldat wird ausgehoben, gekleidet, bewaffnet, geübt, er schläft, ißt, trinkt und marschiert, alles nur, um an rechter Stelle und zu rechter Zeit zu fechten.

In conformity with all that has been said on the subject up to the present, two fundamental principles reign throughout the whole plan of the war, and serve as a guide for everything else.

The first is: to reduce the weight of the enemy’s power into as few centres of gravity as possible, into one if it can be done; again, to confine the attack against these centres of force to as few principal undertakings as possible, to one if possible; lastly, to keep all secondary undertakings as subordinate as possible. In a word, the first principle is, to act concentrated as much as possible.

The second principle runs thus to act as swiftly as possible; therefore, to allow of no delay or detour without sufficient reason.

[...] to introduce into the philosophy of war itself a principle of moderation would be an absurdity

An immense space lies between a General — that is, one at the head of a whole War, or of a theatre of War — and his Second in Command, for the simple reason that the latter is in more immediate subordination to a superior authority and supervision, consequently is restricted to a more limited sphere of independent thought.

What is the object of defense? To preserve. To preserve is easier than to acquire.

Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult

[...] so sind ihm zwei Eigenschaften unentbehrlich [...] Der erstere ist bildlich mit dem französischen Ausdruck coup d'oeil bezeichnet worden, der andere ist die Entschlossenheit.

A distinguished commander without boldness is unthinkable. no man who is not…bold can play such a role, and therefore we consider this quality the first prerequisite of the great military leader. How much of this quality remains by the time he reaches senior rank, after training and experience have affected and modified it, is another question. The greater the extent to which it is retained, the greater the range of his genius.

Wenn der Gegner unseren Willen erfüllen soll, so müssen wir ihn in eine Lage versetzen, die nachteiliger ist, als das Opfer, welches wir von ihm fordern; die Nachteile dieser Lage dürfen aber natürlich, wenigstens dem Anscheine nach, nicht vorübergehend sein, sonst würde der Gegner den besseren Zeitpunkt abwarten und nicht nachgeben.

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 we also want to make it clear that war in itself does not suspend political intercourse or change it into something entirely different. In essentials that intercourse continues, irrespective of the means it employs.