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War is the province of danger.

Carl von Clausewitz

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Carl von Clausewitz
Age: 51 †
Born: 1780
Born: June 1
Died: 1831
Died: November 16
Historian
Military Historian
Military Officer
Military Personnel
Military Theorist
Philosopher
Writer
Burg bei Magdeburg
Province
Provinces
Danger
War

More quotes by Carl von Clausewitz

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Self-reliance is the best defence against the pressures of the moment.
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We repeat again: strength of character does not consist solely in having powerful feelings, but in maintaining one’s balance in spite of them. Even with the violence of emotion, judgment and principle must still function like a ship’s compass, which records the slightest variations however rough the sea.
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A certain grasp of military affairs is vital for those in charge of general policy.
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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.
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Knowing is different from doing and therefore theory must never be used as norms for a standard, but merely as aids to judgment.
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Only great and general battles can produce great results
Carl von Clausewitz
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...as man under pressure tends to give in to physical and intellectual weakness, only great strength of will can lead to the objective.
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Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.
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The art of war in its highest point of view is policy.
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Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.
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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.
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There are very few men-and they are the exceptions-who are able to think and feel beyond the present moment
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Men are always more inclined to pitch their estimate of the enemy's strength too high than too low, such is human nature.
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Blood is the price of victory
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Battles decide everything.
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There is only one decisive victory: the last.
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Four elements make up the climate of war: danger, exertion, uncertainty and chance.
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Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.
Carl von Clausewitz
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The very nature of interactions is bound to make it unpredictable.
Carl von Clausewitz
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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.
Carl von Clausewitz