"Since war is not an act of senseless passion but is controlled by its political object, the value of this object must determine the sacrifices to be made for it in magnitude and also in duration. Once the expenditure of effort exceeds the value of the political object, the object must be renounced and peace must follow. We see then that if one side cannot completely disarm the other, the desire for peace on either side will rise and fall with the probability of further successes and the amount of effort these would require. If such incentives were of equal strength on both sides, the two would resolve their political disputes by meeting half way. If the incentive grows on one side, it should diminish on the other. Peace will result so long as their sum total is sufficient — though the side that feels the lesser urge for peace will naturally get the better bargain."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Ch. 2
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_von_Clausewitz
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Carl von Clausewitz
1780 – 1831
preußischer General und Militärtheoretiker
109 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Carl von Clausewitz →
Related Quotes
"[...] so sind ihm zwei Eigenschaften unentbehrlich [...] Der erstere ist bildlich mit dem französischen Ausdruck coup…"
"Die Entschlossenheit ist ein Akt des Mutes in dem einzelnen Fall, und wenn sie zum Charakterzug wird, eine Gewohnheit…"
"To introduce into the philosophy of War itself a principle of moderation would be an absurdity."
"War is an act of violence pushed to its utmost bounds."
"With uncertainty in one scale, courage and self-confidence should be thrown into the other to correct the balance. Th…"
"Blind aggressiveness would destroy the attack itself, not the defense."
"... in the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards."
"Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating."
"Kind-hearted people might of course think there was some ingenious way to disarm or defeat the enemy without too much…"
"Wir sagen es also noch einmal: ein starkes Gemüt ist nicht ein solches, welches bloß starker Regungen fähig ist, sond…"