The difficulty of accurate recognition constitutes one of the most serious sources of friction in war, by making things appear entirely different from what one had expected. Carl von Clausewitz More Quotes by Carl von Clausewitz More Quotes From Carl von Clausewitz The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan. Carl von Clausewitz No one starts a war - or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so - without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war, and how he intends to conduct it. Carl von Clausewitz The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation from their purposes. Carl von Clausewitz never isolation political war War is the continuation of politics by other means. Carl von Clausewitz means other politics war