Quotes by Military Leaders

The search for a scapegoat is the easiest of all hunting expeditions.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
When my journal appears many statues must come down.
Duke of Wellington
Worry is a word that I don't allow myself to use.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Men take only their needs into consideration never their abilities.
Napoléon Bonaparte
Labor disgraces no man unfortunately you occasionally find men who disgrace labor.
Ulysses S. Grant
If you start to take Vienna - take Vienna.
Napoléon Bonaparte
Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures but in the use made of them.
Napoléon Bonaparte
Veni vidi vici. (I came I saw I conquered.)
Julius Caesar
Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.
Duke of Wellington
The whole art of war consists of guessing at what is on the other side of the hill.
Duke of Wellington
It is well that war is so terrible - we would grow too fond of it.
Robert E. Lee
I don't know what effect these men will have on the enemy but by God they frighten me.
Duke of Wellington
If they want peace nations should avoid the pinpricks that precede cannon shots.
Napoléon Bonaparte
Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.
George Washington
Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.
George Washington
Trust in God and keep your powder dry.
Oliver Cromwell
For the maintenance of peace nations should avoid the pin-pricks which forerun cannon-shots.
Napoleon
I beg leave to assure the Congress that no pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to accept this arduous employment at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness. I do not wish to make any profit from it.
George Washington
The heart of a statesman should be in his head.
Napoléon Bonaparte
Public instruction should be the first object of government.
Napoleon
A man's palate can in time become accustomed to anything.
Napoleon
Diplomats are useful only in fair weather. As soon as it rains they drown in every drop.
Charles de Gaulle
It requires more courage to suffer than to die.
Napoleon
It is cowardice to commit suicide.
Napoleon
Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.
Arthur Wellesley
If you start to take Vienna take Vienna.
Napoléon Bonaparte
Victory belongs to the most persevering.
Napoléon Bonaparte
We have fought this fight as long and as well as we know how. We have been defeated ... there is now but one course to pursue. We must accept the situation.
Robert E. Lee
Morale is the greatest single factor in successful wars.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
The will to conquer is the first condition of victory.
Marshal Ferdinand Foch
I can always make it a rule to get there first with the most men.
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Circumstances-what are circumstances? I make circumstances.
Napoléon Bonaparte
Faced with crisis the man of character falls back on himself.
Charles de Gaulle
The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.
Napoléon Bonaparte
A tomb now suffices him for whom the whole world was not sufficient.
Alexander the Great
To do all that one is able to do is to be a man to do all that one would like to do is to be a god.
Napoléon Bonaparte
If you want total security go to prison. There you're fed clothed given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking ... is freedom.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
My downfall raises me to infinite heights.
Napoléon Bonaparte
The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny.
Napoléon Bonaparte
Heaven itself has ordained the right.
George Washington
Every man must get to heaven his own way.
Frederick the Great
There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Napoleon
I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all Summer.
Ulysses S. Grant
Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation for it is better to be alone than in bad company.
George Washington
I respect only those who resist me but cannot tolerate them.
Charles de Gaulle
Undertake not what you cannot perform but be careful to keep your promise.
George Washington
It so happens that the world is undergoing a transformation to which no change that has yet occurred can be compared either in scope or in rapidity.
Charles de Gaulle
My movements to the chair of government will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution.
George Washington
To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.
George Washington
This is what I found out about religion: It gives you courage to make decisions you must make in a crisis and then the confidence to leave the result to a Higher Power. Only by trust in God can a man carrying responsibility find repose.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
The better I get to know men the more I find myself loving dogs.
Charles de Gaulle
My center is giving way my right is in retreat: situation excellent. I am attacking.
Marshal Ferdinand Foch
He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.
Napoléon Bonaparte
No one can defeat us unless we first defeat ourselves.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
It will not be any European statesman who will unite Europe: Europe will be united by the Chinese.
Charles de Gaulle
What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
In order to become the master the politician poses as the servant.
Charles de Gaulle
In politics it is necessary either to betray one's country or the electorate. I prefer to betray the electorate.
Charles de Gaulle
I shall never ask never refuse nor ever resign an office.
George Washington
Since a politician never believes what he says he is surprised when others believe him.
Charles de Gaulle