25+ Carl von Clausewitz Quotes to Reflect on War, Strategy, and Leadership
- July 1, 1780 – November 16, 1831
- Born in the Kingdom of Prussia (now Germany)
- Military officer and military theorist
- In his book On War, he stated that “war is an extension of politics by other means,” which had a major impact on modern military studies.
- “All action takes place, so to speak, in a kind of twilight, which like a fog or moonlight, often tends to make things seem grotesque and larger than they really are.”
- “War is regarded as nothing but the continuation of state policy with other means.”
- “Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain.”
- “The more a general is accustomed to place heavy demands on his soldiers, the more he can depend on their response.”
- “War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.”
- “I shall proceed from the simple to the complex. But in war more than in any other subject we must begin by looking at the nature of the whole; for here more than elsewhere the part and the whole must always be thought of together.”
- “Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.”
- “War is the domain of physical exertion and suffering.”
- “It is even better to act quickly and err than to hesitate until the time of action is past.”
- “Everything in war is very simple. But the simplest thing is difficult.”
- “The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation from their purposes.”
- “A conqueror is always a lover of peace.”
- “Politics is the womb in which war develops.”
- “War is the province of danger.”
- “Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.”
- “If the leader is filled with high ambition and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will, he will reach them in spite of all obstacles.”
- “The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy.”
- “Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination.”
- “Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.”
- “War is the continuation of politics by other means.”
- “To secure peace is to prepare for war.”
- “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.”
- “Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth; and second, the courage to follow this faint light wherever it may lead.”
- “Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.”
- “War is not an exercise of the will directed at an inanimate matter.”