Carl von Clausewitz Quotes

Strength of character does not consist solely in having powerful feelings, but in maintaining one’s balance in spite of them

Self-Control is the very essence of character. To be able to look a man straight in the eye, calmly and deliberately, without the slightest ruffle of temper under extreme provocation, gives a sense of power which nothing else can give. To feel that you are always, not sometimes, master of yourself, gives a dignity and strength to character, buttresses it, supports it on every side, as nothing else can. This is the culmination of thought mastery.

There are times I am happy. There are times I am sad. But I always try to separate emotion from the need to reach for something stronger, deeper. And then no matter the emotion, I can reach for a stability that helps me accomplish what is the goal.

I don't want sadness or happiness to affect my life.

The man who becomes angry never does a great amount of work, and the man whom nothing can make angry accomplishes so much.

And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may livethrough its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes.

As our heart summons our strength, our wisdom must direct it.

I may have lost my heart, but not my self-control.

He that would be superior to external influences must first become superior to his own passions.

After each creative act one has to be sustained by one's strength of character, by a moral sense, by I don't know what, lest one tumble.

I was full of a hot, powerful sadness and would have loved to burst into the comfort of tears, but tried hard not to, remembering something my Guru once said -- that you should never give yourself a chance to fall apart because, when you do, it becomes a tendency and it happens over and over again. You must practice staying strong, instead.

After all it is those who have a deep and real inner life who are best able to deal with the irritating details of outer life.

If some things don't make you lose your sense of reason, then you have none to lose.

As long as I retain my feeling and my passion for Nature, I can partly soften or subdue my other passions and resist or endure those of others.

The more externally chaotic the world becomes, the more we need sound internal logic, especially when it comes to our emotions.

Of course, fighting is one of the most emotional things that you can possibly do. You have to constantly deal with your emotions, especially myself. I have so many that that's where I get my energy from. But it's a matter of controlling them, and yeah, I just don't let nothing affect me.

As my object was not myself, I set out with the determination, and happily with the disposition, of not being moved by praise or censure, friendship or calumny, nor of being drawn from my purpose by any personal altercation; and the man who cannot do this, is not fit for a public character.

The strong is not the one who is physically powerful, but indeed, the one who controls himself when angry.

Every great, successful person I know shares the capacity to remain centered, clear, and powerful in the midst of emotional 'storms'.

It is all very well to talk about being the captain of your soul. It is hard, and only a few heroes, saints, and geniuses have been the captains of their souls for any extended period of their lives.

The constancy of sages is nothing but the art of locking up their agitation in their hearts.

...to tune the spirit when someone is trampling on you is called control

Emotion can be the enemy, if you give into your emotion, you lose yourself. You must be at one with your emotion, because the body always follows the mind.

It is a fact that the majority of a man's griefs comes about through lack of self-control.

Weak minds make treaties with the passions they cannot overcome, and try to purchase happiness at the expense of principle; but the resolute will of a strong man scorns such means, and struggles nobly with his foe to achieve great deeds.