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Carl von Clausewitz Biography

Carl von Clausewitz

Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb) von Clausewitz (/ˈklaʊzəvɪts/; 1 June 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral" (meaning, in modern terms, psychological) and political aspects of war. His most notable work, Vom Kriege (On War), was unfinished at his death. Clausewitz was a realist in many different senses and, while in some respects a romantic, also drew heavily on the rationalist ideas of the European Enlightenment.

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Carl von Clausewitz Quotes

War is not merely a political act but a real political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse, a carrying out of the same by other means.

Continuation, Merely, Peace, Real, War

The world has a way of undermining complex plans. This is particularly true in fast moving environments. A fast moving environment can evolve more quickly than a complex plan can be adapted to it. By the time you have adapted, the target has changed.

Art, Evolve, Moving, Undermining, War, World

In the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.

Cards, Games, Human, Range, Resembles, War

We shall not enter into any of the abstruse definitions of war used by publicists. We shall keep to the element of the thing itself, to a duel. War is nothing but a duel on an extensive scale.

Abstruse, Definitions, Element, Elements, Keep, War

Just as some plants bear fruit only if they don't shoot up too high, so in practical arts the leaves and flowers of theory must be pruned and the plant kept close to its proper soil- experience.

Art, Bear, Flower, Flowers, Pruned, Soil

In short, absolute, so-called mathematical, factors never find a firm basis in military calculations. From the very start, there is an interplay of possibilities, probabilities, good luck and bad, that weaves its way throughout the length and breadth of the tapestry. In the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.

Good Luck, Length, Luck, Military, Probabilities, War

Only the element of chance is needed to make war a gamble, and that element is never absent.

Chance, Element, Elements, War

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.

Assumption, Become, Final, Finals, Harmony, Whole

War is nothing but a continuation of politics with the admixture of other means.

War, Mean, Politics, Nothing, Admixture, Continuation

War is merely a continuation of politics.

Continuation, Merely, Politics, War

In war, where imperfect intelligence, the threat of a catastrophe, and the number of accidents are incomparably greater than any other human endeavor, the amount of missed opportunities, so to speak, is therefore bound to be greater.

War, Opportunity, Numbers, Catastrophe, Accidents, Opportunities

The object of defense is preservation; and since it is easier to hold ground than to take it, defense is easier than attack. But defense has a passive purpose: preservation; and attack a positive one: conquest. . . . If defense is the stronger form of war, yet has a negative object, it follows that it should be used only so long as weakness compels, and be abandoned as soon as we are strong enough to pursue a positive object.

Long, Pursue, Strong, Take, Used, War

If we read history with an open mind, we cannot fail to conclude that, among all the military virtues, the energetic conduct of war has always contributed most to glory and success.

Military, Mind, Read, Success, War

Where absolute superiority is not attainable, you must produce a relative one at the decisive point by making skillful use ofwhat you have.

Use, Produce, Skillful, Making, Relative

The only situation a commander can know fully is his own: his opponent's he can know only from unreliable intelligence.

Fully, Intelligence, Know, Knows, Opponents, Situation

Blood is the price of victory

Blood, Military, Price, Victory

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.

Application, Doe, Results, Simple, War

Kind-hearted people might of course think there was some ingenious way to disarm or defeat an enemy without too much bloodshed, and might imagine this is the true goal of the art of war. Pleasant as it sounds; it is a fallacy that must be exposed: War is such a dangerous business that the mistakes which come from kindness are the very worst.

Art, Business, Exposed, Kindness, War, Way

Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult. The difficulties accumulate and end by producing a kind of friction that is inconceivable unless one has experienced war. . . . Countless minor incidents - the kind you can never really foresee - combine to lower the general level of performance, so that one always falls short of the intended goal.

Combine, Difficult, Fall, Friction, Simple, War

In war everything is simple, but it's the simple things that are difficult.

Art, Difficult, Simple, War

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