Quote

There are times when the utmost daring is the height of wisdom.

Carl von Clausewitz

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
Utmost
Daring
Height
Wisdom
Times

More quotes by Carl von Clausewitz

Image
Surprise becomes effective when we suddenly face the enemy at one point with far more troops than he expected. This type of numerical superiority is quite distinct from numerical superiority in general: it is the most powerful medium in the art of war.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
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
Image
War is an act of force, and to the application of that force there is no limit. Each of the adversaries forces the hand of the other, and a reciprocal action results which in theory can have no limit.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Blind aggressiveness would destroy the attack itself, not the defense.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
With uncertainty in one scale, courage and self-confidence should be thrown into the other to correct the balance. The greater they are, the greater the margin that can be left for accidents.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
War is nothing but a duel on a larger scale.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
No campaign plan survives first contact with the enemy
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Battles decide everything.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
It is even better to act quickly and err than to hesitate until the time of action is past.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Only great and general battles can produce great results
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
The very nature of interactions is bound to make it unpredictable.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
In war everything is simple, but it's the simple things that are difficult.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Be audacious and cunning in your plans, firm and persevering in their execution, determined to find a glorious end.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Knowledge must become capability.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Obstinacy is a fault of temperament. Stubbornness and intolerance of contradiction result from a special kind of egotism, which elevates above everything else the pleasure of its autonomous intellect, to which others must bow.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Architects and painters know precisely what they are about as long as they deal with material phenomena.... But when they come to the aesthetics of their work, when they aim at a particular effect on the mind or on the senses, the rules dissolve into nothing but vague ideas.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Four elements make up the climate of war: danger, exertion, uncertainty and chance.
Carl von Clausewitz