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Carl von Clausewitz

Carl von Clausewitz Quotes

Military Historian

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Famous Carl von Clausewitz Quotes

“To discover how much of our resources must be mobilized for war, we must first examine our political aim and that of the enemy. We must gauge the strength and situation of the opposite state. We must gauge the character and abilities of its government and people and do the same in regard to our own. Finally, we must evaluate the political sympathies of other states and the effect the war may have on them.”

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Author:Carl von Clausewitz
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“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.”

WayHumansWarWholeGamesMilitaryPossibilityActivityBasesAbsolutesLuckFactorsCardsMathematicalRangeFirmLengthProbabilityGood LuckCalculationsHuman ActivityBreadthTapestry
Author:Carl von Clausewitz
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“The general unreliability of all information presents a special problem in war: all action takes place, so to speak, in the twilight, which, like fog or moonlight, often tends to make things seem grotesque and larger than they really are. Whatever is hidden from full view in this feeble light has to be guessed at by talent, or simply left to chance. So once again for the lack of objective knowledge, one has to trust to talent or to luck.”

WarProblemLightSeemsActionLeftSpeakChanceViewsSpecialTalentInformationLuckObjectivesTwilightFogMoonlightGrotesqueUnreliability
Book:On War
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“We must evaluate the political sympathies of other states and the effect war may have on them. To assess these things in all their ramifications and diversity is plainly a colossal task. Rapid and correct appraisal of them clearly calls for the intuition of a genius; to master all this complex mass by sheer methodical examination is obviously impossible. Bonaparte was quite right when he said that Newton himself would quail before the algebraic problems it could pose.”

MaySaidWarStatesProblemPoliticalImpossibleEffectsMastersGeniusDiversityMassTasksComplexesIntuitionSheerRapidsExaminationNewtonEvaluateColossalRamificationsAppraisalMethodicalQuailsBonaparte
Author:Carl von Clausewitz
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“If we consider the actual basis of this information [i.e., intelligence], how unreliable and transient it is, we soon realize that war is a flimsy structure that can easily collapse and bury us in its ruins. ... Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain. This is true of all intelligence but even more so in the heat of battle, where such reports tend to contradict and cancel each other out. In short, most intelligence is false, and the effect of fear is to multiply lies and inaccuracies.”

IfsWarLyingRealizingEffectsInformationBattleBasesStructureRuinsHeatReportsCollapseUncertainContradictoryTransientUnreliable
Author:Carl von Clausewitz
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“A general in time of war is constantly bombarded by reports both true and false; by errors arising from fear or negligence or hastiness; by disobedience born of right or wrong interpretations, of ill will; of a proper or mistaken sense of duty; of laziness; or of exhaustion; and by accident that nobody could have foreseen. In short, he is exposed to countless impressions, most of them disturbing, few of them encouraging. ... If a man were to yield to these pressures, he would never complete an operation.”

IfsMenWarBornDutyPressureErrorsIllAccidentsImpressionOperationsReportsInterpretationYieldExposedLazinessMistakenDisturbingDisobedienceExhaustionNegligenceIll WillBombardedForeseenTrue And FalseBombarded By
Book:On War
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“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.”

KindWarEndsFallDifficultGoalSimpleLevelsPerformancesDifficultyMinorsSimplestIncidentsFriction
Author:Carl von Clausewitz
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“War is the realm of uncertainty; three-quarters of the factors on which action in war is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty. ... war is the realm of chance. No other human activity gives it greater scope; no other has such incessant and varied dealings with this intruder. Chance makes everything more uncertain and interferes with the whole course of events.”

GivingHumansWarWholeActionThreeCoursesChanceGreaterEventsActivityFactorsUncertaintyRealmsQuartersUncertainInterfereFogScopeHuman ActivityDealingsIncessantIntruders
Book:On War
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“In 1793 such a force as no one had any conception of made its appearance. War had again suddenly become an affair of the people, and that of a people numbering thirty millions, every one of whom regarded himself as a citizen of the State... By this participation of the people in the war... a whole Nation with its natural weight came into the scale.”

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Author:Carl von Clausewitz
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“However much pains may be taken to combine the soldier and the citizen in one and the same individual, whatever may be done to nationalize wars, never will it be possible to do away with the professionalism of the business; and if that cannot be done, then those who belong to it will always look upon themselves as a kind of guild, in the regulations, laws, and customs in which the "Spirit of War" finds its expression. It would be very wrong to look down upon this corporate spirit, or esprit de corps, which may and should exist more or less in every Army.”

IfsShouldLooksKindMayWarDoneWould BePainLawSpiritIndividualTakenExpressionCitizensArmySoldierCorporateLook UpCustomsRegulationProfessionalismGuildsEsprit De Corps
Author:Carl von Clausewitz
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