Over his military career, it must be said that General George S. Patton was not only an exemplary warrior, but also a leader and a brilliant military tactician. He held the utmost respect and admiration for the men he led and was a great source of inspiration for the men of the 3rd US Army. He definitely had his own views and opinions and was not the least bit shy in expressing these, at times to the great displeasure of his superiors and/or political masters. He foresaw the rift between the Allies and the Soviet Union well before anyone else and was keen to roll on Moscow, had Eisenhower let him. He has been accredited with many stirring and irreverent quotations. These are a few of my favorites:
"A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week."
“A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood.”
“By perseverance, study, and eternal desire, any man can become great.”
“Do everything you ask of those you command.”
“Do more than is required of you.”
“Fixed fortifications are monuments to man's stupidity.”
“Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy.”
“I always believe in being prepared, even when I'm dressed in white tie and tails.”
“I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight.”
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.”
“If I do my full duty, the rest will take care of itself.”
“In case of doubt, attack.”
“It’s the unconquerable soul of man, not the nature of the weapon he uses, that insures victory.”
“Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. ”
“Live for something rather than die for nothing.”
"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.”
“Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men.”
“Never let the enemy pick the battle site.”
“No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair.”
“Say what you mean and mean what you say.”
“Success is how you bounce on the bottom.”
“The leader must be an actor."
“The soldier is the army.”
“There is only one type of discipline, perfect discipline.”
“War is simple, direct, and ruthless.”
“Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men.”
“You’re never beaten until you admit it.”
“You shouldn't underestimate an enemy, but it is just as fatal to overestimate him.”
"Attack rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, without rest, however tired and hungry you may be, the enemy will be more tired, more hungry. Keep punching."
"In landing operations, retreat is impossible, to surrender is as ignoble as it is foolish… above all else remember that we as attackers have the initiative, we know exactly what we are going to do, while the enemy is ignorant of our intentions and can only parry our blows. We must retain this tremendous advantage by always attacking rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, and without rest."
"An Army is a team; lives, sleeps, eats, fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is a lot of crap."
"War is the supreme test of man in which he rises to heights never approached in any other activity."
"No sane man is unafraid in battle, but discipline produces in him a form of vicarious courage."
"A man must know his destiny… if he does not recognize it, then he is lost. By this I mean, once, twice, or at the very most, three times, fate will reach out and tap a man on the shoulder… if he has the imagination, he will turn around and fate will point out to him what fork in the road he should take, if he has the guts, he will take it."
"In war the only sure defense is offense, and the efficiency of the offense depends on the warlike souls of those conducting it."
"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."
"Wars might be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who lead that gains the victory."
"… many, who should know better, think that wars can be decided by soulless machines, rather than by the blood and anguish of brave men."
"An incessant change of means to attain unalterable ends is always going on; we must take care not to let these sundry means undue eminence in the perspective of our minds; for, since the beginning, there has been an unending cycle of them, and for each its advocates have claimed adoption as the sole solution of successful war."
"Untutored courage is useless in the face of educated bullets."
"The obvious thing for the cavalryman to do is to accept the fighting machine as a partner, and prepare to meet more fully the demands of future warfare."
"Many soldiers are led to faulty ideas of war by knowing too much about too little."
"The difficulty in understanding the Russian is that we do not take cognizance of the fact that he is not a European, but an Asiatic, and therefore thinks deviously. We can no more understand a Russian than a Chinese or a Japanese, and from what I have seen of them, I have no particular desire to understand them except to ascertain how much lead or iron it takes to kill them. In addition to his other amiable characteristics, the Russian has no regard for human life and they are all out sons-of-bitches, barbarians, and chronic drunks."
“No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb son-of-a-bitch die for his country.”
"A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week."
“A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood.”
“By perseverance, study, and eternal desire, any man can become great.”
“Do everything you ask of those you command.”
“Do more than is required of you.”
“Fixed fortifications are monuments to man's stupidity.”
“Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy.”
“I always believe in being prepared, even when I'm dressed in white tie and tails.”
“I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight.”
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.”
“If I do my full duty, the rest will take care of itself.”
“In case of doubt, attack.”
“It’s the unconquerable soul of man, not the nature of the weapon he uses, that insures victory.”
“Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. ”
“Live for something rather than die for nothing.”
"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.”
“Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men.”
“Never let the enemy pick the battle site.”
“No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair.”
“Say what you mean and mean what you say.”
“Success is how you bounce on the bottom.”
“The leader must be an actor."
“The soldier is the army.”
“There is only one type of discipline, perfect discipline.”
“War is simple, direct, and ruthless.”
“Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men.”
“You’re never beaten until you admit it.”
“You shouldn't underestimate an enemy, but it is just as fatal to overestimate him.”
"Attack rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, without rest, however tired and hungry you may be, the enemy will be more tired, more hungry. Keep punching."
"In landing operations, retreat is impossible, to surrender is as ignoble as it is foolish… above all else remember that we as attackers have the initiative, we know exactly what we are going to do, while the enemy is ignorant of our intentions and can only parry our blows. We must retain this tremendous advantage by always attacking rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, and without rest."
"An Army is a team; lives, sleeps, eats, fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is a lot of crap."
"War is the supreme test of man in which he rises to heights never approached in any other activity."
"No sane man is unafraid in battle, but discipline produces in him a form of vicarious courage."
"A man must know his destiny… if he does not recognize it, then he is lost. By this I mean, once, twice, or at the very most, three times, fate will reach out and tap a man on the shoulder… if he has the imagination, he will turn around and fate will point out to him what fork in the road he should take, if he has the guts, he will take it."
"In war the only sure defense is offense, and the efficiency of the offense depends on the warlike souls of those conducting it."
"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."
"Wars might be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who lead that gains the victory."
"… many, who should know better, think that wars can be decided by soulless machines, rather than by the blood and anguish of brave men."
"An incessant change of means to attain unalterable ends is always going on; we must take care not to let these sundry means undue eminence in the perspective of our minds; for, since the beginning, there has been an unending cycle of them, and for each its advocates have claimed adoption as the sole solution of successful war."
"Untutored courage is useless in the face of educated bullets."
"The obvious thing for the cavalryman to do is to accept the fighting machine as a partner, and prepare to meet more fully the demands of future warfare."
"Many soldiers are led to faulty ideas of war by knowing too much about too little."
"The difficulty in understanding the Russian is that we do not take cognizance of the fact that he is not a European, but an Asiatic, and therefore thinks deviously. We can no more understand a Russian than a Chinese or a Japanese, and from what I have seen of them, I have no particular desire to understand them except to ascertain how much lead or iron it takes to kill them. In addition to his other amiable characteristics, the Russian has no regard for human life and they are all out sons-of-bitches, barbarians, and chronic drunks."
“No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb son-of-a-bitch die for his country.”
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