Quote

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

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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
Hands
Forces
Limits
Theory
Results
Hand
Reciprocal
Force
Adversaries
War
Application
Action
Limit

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What we should admire is the acute fulfillment of the unspoken assumptions, the smooth harmony of the whole activity, which only become evident in the final success.
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The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation form their purposes.
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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.
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A certain grasp of military affairs is vital for those in charge of general policy.
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Tactics is the art of using troops in battle strategy is the art of using battles to win the war
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There is only one decisive victory: the last.
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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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It is even better to act quickly and err than to hesitate until the time of action is past.
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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.
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The heart of France lies between Brussels and Paris.
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Boldness becomes rarer, the higher the rank.
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Battles decide everything.
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Blood is the price of victory
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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.
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Be audacious and cunning in your plans, firm and persevering in their execution, determined to find a glorious end.
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No campaign plan survives first contact with the enemy
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Self-reliance is the best defence against the pressures of the moment.
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Everything in strategy is very simple, but that does not mean everything is very easy.
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Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.
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The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy.
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