We repeat again: strength of character does not consist solely in having powerful feelings, but in maintaining oneโs balance in spite of them. Even with the violence of emotion, judgment and principle must still function like a shipโs compass, which records the slightest variations however rough the sea.
Carl von ClausewitzOf all the passions that inspire a man in a battle, none, we have to admit, is so powerful and so constant as the longing for honor and reknown.
Carl von ClausewitzFour elements make up the climate of war: danger, exertion, uncertainty and chance.
Carl von ClausewitzThe deduction of effect from cause is often blocked by some insuperable extrinsic obstacle: the true causes may be quite unknown. Nowhere in life is this so common as in war, where the facts are seldom fully known and the underlying motives even less so.
Carl von ClausewitzPursue one great decisive aim with force and determination. The bloody solution of the crisis, the effort for the destruction of the enemy's forces, is the first-born son of war. Only great and general battles can produce great results. Blood is the price of victory.
Carl von ClausewitzIn short, absolute, so-called mathematical, factors never find a firm basis in military calculations. From the very start, there is an interplay of possibilities, probabilities, good luck and bad, that weaves its way throughout the length and breadth of the tapestry. In the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.
Carl von Clausewitz