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
drinking sleep fighting
Whenever armed forces . . . are used, the idea of combat must be present. . . . The end for which a soldier is recruited, clothed, armed, and trained, the whole object of his sleeping, eating, drinking, and marching is simply that he should fight at the right place and the right time.
hero mark intellect
Boldness governed by superior intellect is the mark of a hero.
men mind aliens
Great things alone can make a great mind, and petty things will make a petty mind unless a man rejects them as completely alien.
military war objects
In war the will is directed at an animate object that reacts.
mean fighting enemy
What do we mean by the defeat of the enemy? Simply the destruction of his forces, whether by death, injury, or any other means-either completely or enough to make him stop fighting. . . . The complete or partial destruction of the enemy must be regarded as the sole object of all engagements. . . . Direct annihilation of the enemy's forces must always be the dominant consideration.
war mean
War is politics by other means.
audacity damage given
Given the same amount of intelligence, timidity will do a thousand times more damage than audacity
war ideas campaigns
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.
enemy campaigns firsts
No campaign plan survives first contact with the enemy
men roots majority
Timidity is the root of prudence in the majority of men.
lovers conqueror
A conqueror is always a lover of peace.
war simple together
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.
wisdom intuition fruit
It should be noted that the seeds of wisdom that are to bear fruit in the intellect are sown less by critical studies and learned monographs than by insights, broad impressions, and flashes of intuition.
military war simple
In war, while everything is simple, even the simplest thing is difficult. Difficulties accumulate and produce frictions which no one can comprehend who has not seen war.