Carl von Clausewitz

Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior. ”

War is not an exercise of the will directed at an inanimate matter. ”

Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference. ”

A conqueror is always a lover of peace. ”

To secure peace is to prepare for war. ”

Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth; and second, the courage to follow this faint light wherever it may lead. ”

War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means. ”

Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating. ”

I shall proceed from the simple to the complex. But in war more than in any other subject we must begin by looking at the nature of the whole; for here more than elsewhere the part and the whole must always be thought of together. ”