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.
Interpretation
War is unpredictable and cannot be controlled entirely, as chance influences its outcomes significantly.
In this quote, Carl Von Clausewitz emphasizes the inherent unpredictability of war, asserting that chance plays a vital role in its outcomes. He highlights that no matter how meticulously a battle or military strategy is planned, there remains an unavoidable element of randomness that can disrupt any carefully laid plans and decisions, thus affecting the overall course of events in warfare.
In practice
This quote can be used in a military strategic meeting to emphasize the need for flexibility in plans.
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.
In war, while everything is simple, even the simplest thing is difficult. Difficulties accumulate and produce frictions which no one can comprehend who has not seen war.
There is nothing in the world more stubborn than a corpse: you can hit it, you can knock it to pieces, but you cannot convince it.
We must assist the British in the war as if there were no White Paper and we must resist the White Paper as if there were no war.
I'll not hurt thee, says Uncle Toby, rising with the fly in his hand. Go, he says, opening the window to let it escape. Why should I hurt thee? This world is surely wide enough to hold both thee and me.
Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn
A society is in decay, final or transitional, when common sense really becomes uncommon.
Conventions are unstated agreements within a community to abide by a single way of doing things - not because there is any inherent advantage to the choice, but because there is an advantage to everyone making the same choice.
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