Timely Clausewitz quotations

A soldier and scholar, Clausewitz has had an enormous effect on the minds of modern politicians. It is instructive to see how these people think so you will know the threat.

Carl (Karl) von Clausewitz:

  • “The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation from their purposes.”
  • “War is the continuation of politics by other means.”
  • “War is thus an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will.”
  • “What is the object of defense? Preservation. It is easier to hold ground than take it. . . defense is the stronger form of waging war.”
  • “The concept of war does not originate with the attack, because the ultimate object of attack is not fighting: rather, it is possession. The idea of war originates with the defense . . . ”
  • “War is not merely a political act but a real political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse, a carrying out of the same by other means. To secure peace is to prepare for war.”
  • “War is nothing but a duel on a larger scale.”
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