Carl von Clausewitz (1780 – 1831)
Prussian general and influential military theorist.
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.
Boldness governed by superior intellect is the mark of a hero.
...in the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.
Men are always more inclined to pitch their estimate of the enemy's strength too high than too low, such is human nature.
Anyone who feels the urge to undertake such a task must dedicate himself for his labors as he would prepare for a pilgrimage to distant lands. He must spare no time or effort, fear no earthly power or rank, and rise above his own vanity or false modesty in order to tell, in accordance with the expression of the Code Napoléon, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
What we should admire is the acute fulfillment of the unspoken assumptions, the smooth harmony of the whole activity, which only become evident in the final success.
...only the element of chance is needed to make war a gamble, and that element is never absent.
Thus it has come about that our theoretical and critical literature, instead of giving plain, straightforward arguments in which the author at least always knows what he is saying and the reader what he is reading, is crammed with jargon, ending at obscure crossroads where the author loses its readers. Sometimes these books are even worse: they are just hollow shells. The author himself no longer knows just what he is thinking and soothes himself with obscure ideas which would not satisfy him if expressed in plain speech.
Great things alone can make a great mind, and petty things will make a petty mind unless a man rejects them as completely alien.
Modern wars are seldom fought without hatred between nations; this serves more or less as a substitute for hatred between individuals.
The state of crisis is the real war; the equilibrium is nothing but its reflex.
...the role of determination is to limit the agonies of doubt and the perils of hesitation when the motives for action are inadequate.
Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.
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.
To introduce into the philosophy of War itself a principle of moderation would be an absurdity.
A prince or general can best demonstrate his genius by managing a campaign exactly to suit his objectives and his resources, doing neither too much nor too little.
A general who allows himself to be decisively defeated in an extended mountain position deserves to be court-martialled.
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.
...the side that feels the lesser urge for peace will naturally get the better bargain.
...talent and genius operate outside the rules, and theory conflicts with practice.