Carl von Clausewitz: Quotes about war

Carl von Clausewitz was German-Prussian soldier and military theorist. Explore interesting quotes on war.

Carl von Clausewitz: 136 quotes21 likes

“Kind-hearted people might of course think there was some ingenious way to disarm or defeat the enemy without too much bloodshed, and might imagine this is the true goal of the art of war.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

Source: On War (1832), Book 1, Chapter 1, Section 3, Paragraph 1.
Context: Kind-hearted people might of course think there was some ingenious way to disarm or defeat the 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 mistakes that come from kindness are the very worst.

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

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

Variant: War Is Merely the Continuation of Policy by Other Means
Source: On War (1832), Book 1, Chapter 1, Section 24, in the Princeton University Press translation (1976)
Variant translation: War is merely the continuation of politics by other means.
Context: War Is Merely the Continuation of Policy by Other Means
We see, therefore, that war is not merely an act of policy but a true political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse carried on with other means. What remains peculiar to war is simply the peculiar nature of its means.

“Everything in war is simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

On War (1832), Book 1

“No one starts a war--or rather, no one in his sense ought to do so--without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by the war and how he intends to conduct it.”

Carl von Clausewitz

“All war presupposes human weakness and seeks to exploit it.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

On War (1832), Book 5

“War is such a dangerous business that mistakes that come from kindness are the very worst.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

“The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing practical to alter or deflect the impulse to destroy the enemy, which is central to the very idea of war.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

On War (1832), Book 1

“Our discussion has shown that while in war many different roads can lead to the goal, to the attainment of the political object, fighting is the only possible means.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

On War (1832), Book 1

“…in war, the advantages and disadvantages of a single action could only be determined by the final balance.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

On War (1832), Book 3

“If we do not learn to regard a war, and the separate campaigns of which it is composed, as a chain of linked engagements each leading to the next, but instead succumb to the idea that the capture of certain geographical points or the seizure of undefended provinces are of value in themselves, we are liable to regard them as windfall profits. In so doing, and in ignoring the fact that they are links in a continuous chain of events, we also ignore the possibility that their possession may later lead to definite disadvantages.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

On War (1832), Book 3

“Essentally combat is an expression of hostile feelings. But in the large-scale combat that we call war hostile feelings often have become merely hostile intentions. At any rate, there are usually no hostile feelings between individuals. Yet such emotions can never be completely absent from war. Modern wars are seldom fought without hatred between nations; this serves as a more or less substitute for the hatred between individuals. Even when there is no natural hatred and no animosity to start with, the fighting itself will stir up hostile feelings: violence committed on superior orders will stir up the desire for revenge and retaliation against the perpetrator rather than against the powers that ordered the action. It is only human (or animal, if you like), but it is a fact.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

On War (1832), Book 2

“Where execution is dominant, as it is in the individual events of a war whether great or small, then intellectual factors are reduced to a minimum.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

On War (1832), Book 3

“…only the element of chance is needed to make war a gamble, and that element is never absent.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

On War (1832), Book 1

“…in the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

On War (1832), Book 1

“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.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

On War (1832), Book 2

“To introduce into the philosophy of War itself a principle of moderation would be an absurdity.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

Variant translation: To introduce into the philosophy of war a principle of moderation would be an absurdity.
As quoted in The Campaign of 1914 in France and Belgium‎ (1915) by George Herbert Perris, p. 56.
Source: On War (1832), Book 1, Chapter 1, Section 3, Paragraph 3

“Modern wars are seldom fought without hatred between nations; this serves more or less as a substitute for hatred between individuals.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

On War (1832), Book 2

“Action in war is like movement in a resistant element. Just as the simplest and most natural of movements, walking, cannot easily be performed in water, so in war it is difficult for normal efforts to achieve even moderate results.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

Source: On War (1832), Book 1, Ch. 7, as translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret (1976).

“The state of crisis is the real war; the equilibrium is nothing but its reflex.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

On War (1832), Book 3

“War is an act of violence pushed to its utmost bounds.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

Variant translation: War is an act of violence which in its application knows no bonds.
As quoted in The Campaign of 1914 in France and Belgium‎ (1915) by George Herbert Perris, p. 56.
Source: On War (1832), Book 1, Chapter 1, Section 3, Paragraph 8