General George Patton Jr. Quotes

General George Patton Jr. Quotes

• No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.
• An army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of bullshit.
• “You cannot be disciplined in great things and indiscipline in small things. Brave undisciplined men have no chance against the discipline and valour of other men. Have you ever seen a few policemen handle a crowd?” – May 1941, in an address to officers and men of the Second Armored Division.
• War is an art and as such is not susceptible of explanation by fixed formula
• Infantry must move forward to close with the enemy. It must shoot in order to move…. To halt under fire is folly. To halt under fire and not fire back is suicide. Officers must set the example
• Few men are killed by the bayonet, many are scared by it. Bayonets should be fixed when the fire fight starts
• All men are timid on entering any fight. Whether it is the first or the last fight, all of us are timid. Cowards are those who let their timidity get the better of their manhood.
• Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.
• Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.
• Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.
• Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.
• Pressure makes diamonds.
• May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won’t.
• If you can’t get them to salute when they should salute and wear the clothes you tell them to wear, how are you going to get them to die for their country?
• Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity
• Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men.
• I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight.
• “We want to get the hell over there. The quicker we clean up this Goddamned mess, the quicker we can take a little jaunt against the purple pissing Japs and clean out their nest, too. Before the Goddamned Marines get all of the credit.” – Addressing to his troops before Operation Overlord, June 5, 1944
• Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men.
• Take calculated risks.
• You’re never beaten until you admit it.
• All glory is fleeting.
• A good plan executed today is better than a perfect plan executed at some indefinite point in the future.
• Go forward until the last round is fired and the last drop of gas is expended…then go forward on foot!
• If you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do… the body is never tired if the mind is not tired.