# Quote — Carl von Clausewitz, On War

> Thus it has come about that our theoretical and critical literature, instead of giving plain, straightforward arguments in which the author at least always knows what he is saying and the reader what he is reading, is crammed with jargon, ending at obscure crossroads where the author loses its readers. Sometimes these books are even worse: they are just hollow shells. The author himself no longer knows just what he is thinking and soothes himself with obscure ideas which would not satisfy him if expressed in plain speech.

- Author: [Carl von Clausewitz](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-von-clausewitz.md)
- Book: [On War](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-von-clausewitz/on-war.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_von_Clausewitz#Book_2) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-von-clausewitz/on-war/thus-it-has

## More from this book

> Strength of character does not consist solely in having powerful feelings, but in maintaining one’s balance in spite of them. Even with the violence of emotion, judgment and principle must still function like a ship’s compass, which records the slightest variations however rough the sea.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-von-clausewitz/on-war/strength-of-character.md)

> War therefore is an act of violence intended to compel our opponent to fulfil our will.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-von-clausewitz/on-war/war-therefore-is-an-act.md)

> War is merely the continuation of policy by other means.
>
> We see, therefore, that war is not merely an act of policy but a true political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse carried on with other means. What remains peculiar to war is simply the peculiar nature of its means.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-von-clausewitz/on-war/war-is-merely.md)