Lastly, the great uncertainty of all data in War is a peculiar difficulty, because all action must, to a certain extent, be planned in a mere twilight, which in addition not unfrequently โ like the effect of a fog or moonshine โ gives to things exaggerated dimensions and an unnatural appearance.
Carl von ClausewitzIn War more than anywhere else in the world things happen differently to what we had expected, and look differently when near, to what they did at a distance.
Carl von ClausewitzNo one starts a war--or rather, no one in his sense ought to do so--without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by the war and how he intends to conduct it.
Carl von ClausewitzKnowing is different from doing and therefore theory must never be used as norms for a standard, but merely as aids to judgment.
Carl von ClausewitzWar is the realm of uncertainty; three quarters of the factors on which action is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty.
Carl von Clausewitz