An open book and pale quill sit beside small brass scales and an ink pot beneath a golden beam of light.

Original artwork, not a still

Carl von Clausewitz

Theory becomes infinitely more difficult as soon as it touches the realm of moral values.

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What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker argues that abstract reasoning becomes far harder once it must deal with questions of right and wrong. Neat principles work more easily when they concern measurable matters; moral values add ambiguity and human weight that resist tidy formulas.

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