[Ads-l] Clausewitz Quote

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Fred Shapiro asked:
> My first question is, is this particular sentence the best-known
> version of this thought by Clausewitz (I believe he stated it more
> than once in his writings)?

The German Wikipedia entry for Carl von Clausewitz presents the
version given in my previous message and not the version in your
query. The German entry also labels the phrase his most famous
quotation.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_von_Clausewitz

The modern German phrasing differs slightly from the original 1832
phrasing. (Follow the link in my previous post to see the full
context.):

German Wikipedia version:
Der Krieg ist eine bloße Fortsetzung der Politik mit anderen Mitteln

1832 version Dümmler, Berlin
Der Krieg ist eine bloße Fortsetzung der Politik mit andern Mitteln

The German Wikiquote entry for Clausewitz places the above version in
a prominent location, i.e., beneath the portrait of Clausewitz.

Please note that I am examining the German Wikipedia and Wikiquote
webpages to gather evidence of popularity. I am not using them as
benchmarks of scholarly thought.

Garson


On Sun, Jan 22, 2017 at 3:50 PM, Joe Salmons <jsalmons at wisc.edu> wrote:
> Well, the key is probably the policy/politics thing and the broader context was what we needed there.
>
>> On Jan 22, 2017, at 2:48 PM, Amy West <medievalist at W-STS.COM> wrote:
>>
>> On 1/22/17 12:00 AM, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
>>> Date:    Sat, 21 Jan 2017 22:24:44 +0000
>>> From:    Joe Salmons<jsalmons at WISC.EDU>
>>> Subject: Re: Clausewitz Quote
>>>
>>> That’s how I know it, in both languages. A closer translation would be something like “war is nothing other than the continuation of politics by other means.”
>> Not that Herr Doktor Professor Salmons needs any concurrence, but, yes, I prefer this translation over yours, Fred, because of the use of the "other" and "by": your use of "with" is too literal.
>>
>> Amy West (Queen of Too Literal German Translations)
>>>> On Jan 21, 2017, at 4:21 PM, Shapiro, Fred<fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>  wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I am having trouble with a very famous quotation and am hoping that some military historians or persons knowledgeable about the German language (or, ideally, military historians who are knowledgeable about the German language) can help me.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> In the Yale Book of Quotations I have the following:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Der Krieg ist nichts anderes als die Fortsetzung der Politik mit anderen Mitteln.
>>>>
>>>> War is the continuation of politics by other means.
>>>>
>>>> Karl von Clausewitz, On War bk. 8, ch. 6 (1832-1834)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My first question is, is this particular sentence the best-known version of this thought by Clausewitz (I believe he stated it more than once in his writings)? or is there another better-known version?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My second question is, is this the most accurate translation? if there is another passage that is the best-known version, what is the most accurate translation of that?  I suspect a better translation of my version above is "War is nothing but the continuation of politics with other means."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Fred Shapiro
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ________________________________
>>>>
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>>
>>
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>
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