Quotes by Carl von Clausewitz with civilization

Carl von Clausewitz

Carl von Clausewitz

Prussian general and military theorist

Lived from: 1780 - 1831

Category: Politics | Scientists Country: FlagGermany

Born: 1 june 1780 Died: 16 november 1831

  • 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.
  • Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Beauty cannot be defined by abscissas and ordinates; neither are circles and ellipses created by their geometrical formulas.
  • In the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.
  • As man under pressure tends to give in to physical and intellectual weakness, only great strength of will can lead to the objective.
  • Boldness will be at a disadvantage only in an encounter with deliberate caution, which may be considered bold in its own right, and is certainly just as powerful and effective; but such cases are rare.
  • Phillipsburg was the name of one those badly drawn fortresses resembling a fool with his nose too close to the wall.
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  • 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.
    On War (1832)
    ― Carl von Clausewitz
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