War is the province of chance. In no sphere of human activity is such a margin to be left for this intruder. It increases the uncertainty of every circumstance, and deranges the course of events.
Carl Von ClausewitzRead
The Conqueror is always a lover of peace: he would prefer to take over our country unopposed.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that true conquerors prefer peaceful control over conflict and resistance.
This quote by Carl Von Clausewitz reflects the idea that a successful conqueror values peace and stability over the chaos of war. It implies that conquest, in its most desirable form, occurs without resistance, allowing for a smoother transition of power and governance. It highlights the contrast between physical domination and a more strategic, peaceful approach to power acquisition, revealing a nuanced understanding of leadership and control.
In practice
During a leadership seminar, to illustrate the importance of peaceful negotiation over conflict.
War is the province of chance. In no sphere of human activity is such a margin to be left for this intruder. It increases the uncertainty of every circumstance, and deranges the course of events.
The object of defense is preservation; and since it is easier to hold ground than to take it, defense is easier than attack. But defense has a passive purpose: preservation; and attack a positive one: conquest.... If defense is the stronger form of war, yet has a negative object, it follows that it should be used only so long as weakness compels, and be abandoned as soon as we are strong enough to pursue a positive object.
Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.
But the main point is that soldiers, after fighting for some time, are apt to be like burned-out cinders. They have shot off their ammunition, their numbers have been diminished, their strength and their morale are drained, and possibly their courage has vanished as well. As an organic whole, quite apart from their loss in numbers, they are far from being what they were before the action; and thus the amount of reserves spent is an accurate measure on the loss of morale.
The more a general is accustomed to place heavy demands on his soldiers, the more he can depend on their response.
If the enemy is to be coerced, you must put him in a situation that is even more unpleasant than the sacrifice you call on him to make. The hardships of the situation must not be merely transient - at least not in appearance. Otherwise, the enemy would not give in, but would wait for things to improve.
What terrified me will terrify others; and I need only describe the spectre which had haunted my midnight pillow.
I will always be an advocate in terms of wars of necessity. I am just much more cautious on wars of choice.
This is a fundamental view of the world. It says that when you build a thing you cannot merely build that thing in isolation, but must repair the world around it, and within it, so that the larger world at that one place becomes more coherent, and more whole; and the thing which you make takes its place in the web of nature, as you make it.
Of all the questions which can come before this nation, short of the actual preservation of its existence in a great war, there is none which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us.
Man cannot become attached to higher aims and submit to a rule if he sees nothing above him to which he belongs. To free him from all social pressure is to abandon him to himself and demoralize him.
One always pulls the trigger out of self-interest and quotes history to avoid responsibility or pangs of conscience.
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