Carl von Clausewitz
Carl von Clausewitz
Carl Philipp Gottfriedvon Clausewitz was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral"and political aspects of war. His most notable work, Vom Kriege, 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...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionSoldier
Date of Birth1 June 1780
CountryGermany
mean goal doe
Whoever does great things with small means has successfully reached the goal.
war lines campaigns
There is nothing more common than to find considerations of supply affecting the strategic lines of a campaign and a war.
country military lovers
The conqueror is always a lover of peace; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed.
determination expression mind
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 degrees; so our determinations continue to be assailed incessantly by fresh experience; and the mind, if we may use the expression, must always be under arms.
knowing different judgment
Knowing is different from doing and therefore theory must never be used as norms for a standard, but merely as aids to judgment.
men thinking able
There are very few men-and they are the exceptions-who are able to think and feel beyond the present moment
war scales total-war
War is nothing but a duel on a larger scale.
war simple friction
Everything in war is very simple. But the simplest thing is difficult.
ideas long mind
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.
real war men
Close combat, man to man, is plainly to be regarded as the real basis of combat.
art war may
Rather than comparing [war] to art we could more accurately compare it to commerce, which is also a conflict of human interests and activities; and it is still closer to politics, which in turn may be considered as a kind of commerce on a larger scale.
self-confidence balance should
With uncertainty in one scale, courage and self-confidence should be thrown into the other to correct the balance. The greater they are, the greater the margin that can be left for accidents.
men thinking principles
Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.
military giving people
The majority of people are timid by nature, and that is why they constantly exaggerate danger. all influences on the military leader, therefore, combine to give him a false impression of his opponent's strength, and from this arises a new source of indecision.