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Are you looking for On War quotes by Carl von Clausewitz? What are some of the most noteworthy passages worth revisiting?
On War by Carl von Clausewitz is arguably the most influential Western treatise on the subject of war. The book consists of a large collection of essays. The author expressed an intent to develop them into a comprehensive textbook for military officers, politicians, and others who needed to understand the subject of war. However, he died before finishing this project, so his writings were published in their original form.
Below is a selection of Carl von Clausewitz’s On War quotes with explanations.
On War Quotes
On War by Carl von Clausewitz is arguably the most influential Western treatise on the subject of war. The book consists of a large collection of essays. The author expressed an intent to develop them into a comprehensive textbook for military officers, politicians, and others who needed to understand the subject of war. However, he died before finishing this project, so his writings were published in their original form.
The following Carl von Clausewitz’s On War quotes highlight some of the key ideas.
“The aggressor is always peace-loving (as Bonaparte always claimed to be); he would prefer to take over our country unopposed.”
As Clausewitz points out, his definition of the purpose of war implies that, as counterintuitive as it sounds, war is generally caused by defenders, not aggressors. This is because aggressors don’t directly make war; they only make political demands and perhaps send troops to enforce their demands. If the defender gives in to their demands without a fight, then the war doesn’t happen.
“The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and means can never be considered in isolation from their purpose.”
Of course, war is not the only tool for advancing political interests. Clausewitz would probably agree that you shouldn’t resort to war if you can achieve your political purpose by other, less extreme measures. He does point out that, while war is a tool of politics, politicians don’t always use it correctly. Sometimes they start wars that achieve the opposite of what they wanted to achieve.
Clausewitz also argues that letting military interests shape political policy or giving the military latitude to take action outside of political policy is ridiculous because war is a tool of politics, not the other way around.
“… to introduce into the philosophy of war itself a principle of moderation would be an absurdity.”
According to Clausewitz, the key factor that differentiates war from other means of pursuing a political objective is violence. Combat is the essence of war: When two nations or factions are at war with each other, their respective soldiers are trying to kill each other. If they’re trying to achieve a political objective by any means other than killing each other, then war is not the tool that they’re using.
Consequently, Clausewitz completely dismisses the idea of trying to make war less violent. Since war is violence, any attempt to make it less violent is delusional. By all means, find non-violent ways of achieving your objectives if you can, but if you must resort to war, then you must resort to violence.
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Here's what you'll find in our full On War summary :
- Carl Von Clausewitz’s philosophical ideas about war
- Why defenders are responsible for most wars
- Why soldiers shouldn't sleep in tents
