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Quotation from On War by Carl von Clausewitz
“a wonderful trinity, composed of the original violence of its elements, hatred and animosity, which may be looked upon as blind instinct; of the play of probabilities and chance, which make it a free activity of the soul; and of the subordinate nature of a political instrument, by which it belongs purely to the reason”
On War, Book I, Ch. 1, §28, trans. J. J. Graham (1873), rev. F. N. Maude (1908)
Clausewitz's synthesis of the forces that make up war, which he associates with people, army and government.
Citation: "a wonderful trinity, composed of the original violence of its elements, hatred and animosity, which may be looked upon as blind instinct; of the play of probabilities and chance, which make it a free activity of the soul; and of the subordinate nature of a political instrument, by which it belongs purely to the reason" — Carl von Clausewitz, On War, Book I, Ch. 1, §28, trans. J. J. Graham (1873), rev. F. N. Maude (1908). (id on-war-q5)
Portrait: Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831), Wilhelm Wach, Public domain.
