ssibility of a standstill brings into the action of War a new
modification, inasmuch as it dilutes that action with the element
of time, checks the influence or sense of danger in its course, and
increases the means of reinstating a lost balance of force. The
greater the tension of feelings from which the War springs, the greater
therefore the energy with which it is carried on, so much the shorter
will be the periods of inaction; on the other hand, the weaker the
principle of warlike activity, the longer will be these periods: for
powerful motives increase the force of the will, and this, as we know,
is always a factor in the product of force.

19. FREQUENT PERIODS OF INACTION IN WAR REMOVE IT FURTHER FROM THE
ABSOLUTE, AND MAKE IT STILL MORE A CALCULATION OF PROBABILITIES.

But the slower the action proceeds in War, the more frequent and
longer the periods of inaction, so much the more easily can an error
be repaired; therefore, so much the bolder a General will be in his
calculations, so much the more readily will he keep them below the line
of the absolute, and build everything upon probabilities and conjecture.
Thus, according as the course of the War is more or less slow, more or
less time will be allowed for that which the nature of a concrete
case particularly requires, calculation of probability based on given
circumstances.

20. THEREFORE, THE ELEMENT OF CHANCE ONLY IS WANTING TO MAKE OF WAR A
GAME, AND IN THAT ELEMENT IT IS LEAST OF ALL DEFICIENT.

We see from the foregoing how much the objective nature of War makes
it a calculation of probabilities; now there is only one single element
still wanting to make it a game, and that element it certainly is
not without: it is chance. There is no human affair which stands so
constantly and so generally in close connection with chance as War.
But together with chance, the accidental, and along with it good luck,
occupy a great place in War.

21. WAR IS A GAME BOTH OBJECTIVELY AND SUBJECTIVELY.

If we now take a look at the subjective nature of War, that is to say,
at those conditions under which it is carried on, it will appear to us
still more like a game. Primarily the element in which the operations
of War are carried on is danger; but which of all the moral qualities is
the first in danger? COURAGE. Now certainly courage is quite compatible
with prudent calculation, but still they are things of quite a different
kind, essentially different qualities o