Book detail: On War is presented as a focused source page for quotations connected with this book, collection, transcript, or source record.
This seminal work delves into the principles of warfare, offering insights on the nature of conflict and the conduct of military campaigns.
The quotes below use the same card format as the rest of the site, including topics, source notes, copy actions, image creation, and sharing controls.
“The art of war in its highest point of view is policy.”
“In war more than anywhere else, things do not turn out as we expect.”
“Four elements make up the climate of war: danger, exertion, uncertainty and chance.”
“Only the element of chance is needed to make war a gamble, and that element is never absent.”
“All war presupposes human weakness and seeks to exploit it.”
“War is nothing but a duel on a larger scale.”
“In war the will is directed at an animate object that reacts.”
“War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.”
“Politics is the womb in which war develops.”
“War is not an exercise of the will directed at an inanimate matter.”
“War should never be thought of as something autonomous, but always as an instrument of policy.”