Quotes by Military Officers

There could be no honor in a sure success but much might be wrested from a sure defeat.
T.E. Lawrence
General Taylor never surrenders.
Thomas L. Crittenden
We give up the fort when there's not a man left to defend it.
General Croghan
To the victors belong the spoils.
Andrew Jackson
Sometimes people mistake the way I talk for what I am thinking.
Idi Amin
In war there is no second prize for the runner-up.
General Omar N. Bradley
It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.
General Douglas MacArthur
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation hard work learning from failure.
General Colin L. Powell
The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
General George S. Patton
Putting aside all the fancy words and academic doubletalk the basic reason for having a military is to do two jobs-to kill people and to destroy the works of man.
Thomas S. Power
You don't hurt 'em if you don't hit 'em.
General Lewis
Put your trust in God my boys and keep your powder dry!
Valentine Blacker
In forty hours I shall be in battle with little information and on the spur of the moment will have to make the most momentous decisions but I believe that one's spirit enlarges with responsibility and that with God's help I shall make them and make them right.
General George S. Patton
Believe that you can whip the enemy and you have won half the battle.
General J. E. B. Stuart
There is no security on this earth. Only opportunity.
General Douglas MacArthur
The fixed determination to have acquired the warrior soul to either conquer or perish with honor is the secret of victory.
General George S. Patton
Defensive strategy never has produced ultimate victory.
General Douglas MacArthur
Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.
General George S. Patton
We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.
Omar Bradley
Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster.
General William Sherman
There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory but boys it is all hell.
General William T. Sherman
There is a time for all things a time to preach and a time to pray but those times have passed away there is a time to fight and that time has come!
General Peter Muhlenberg
Lord you know how busy I must be this day. If I forget you do not you forget me.
Jacob Astley
They've got us surrounded again the poor bastards.
General Creighton W. Abrams
Retreat? We're coming out of here as a Marine division. We're bring ... our dead. Retreat hell! We're just advancing in another direction.
General Oliver Prince Smith
The rule of my life is to make business a pleasure and pleasure my business.
Aaron Burr
Millions for defense but not one cent for tribute.
Charles C. Pinckney
There is a time to take counsel of your fears and there is a time to never listen to any fear.
General George S. Patton
I was told to be accurate be brief and then be seated. ... So I promise I shall be brief as possible - no matter how long it takes me.
Willard Pearson
Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.
General George S. Patton
We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.
Omar Bradley
Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster.
General William Sherman
There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory but boys it is all hell.
General William T. Sherman
There is a time for all things a time to preach and a time to pray but those times have passed away there is a time to fight and that time has come!
General Peter Muhlenberg
Lord you know how busy I must be this day. If I forget you do not you forget me.
Jacob Astley
They've got us surrounded again the poor bastards.
General Creighton W. Abrams
Retreat? We're coming out of here as a Marine division. We're bring ... our dead. Retreat hell! We're just advancing in another direction.
General Oliver Prince Smith
The rule of my life is to make business a pleasure and pleasure my business.
Aaron Burr
Millions for defense but not one cent for tribute.
Charles C. Pinckney
There is a time to take counsel of your fears and there is a time to never listen to any fear.
General George S. Patton
There is no security on this earth. Only opportunity.
General Douglas MacArthur
I was told to be accurate be brief and then be seated. ... So I promise I shall be brief as possible - no matter how long it takes me.
Willard Pearson
Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.
General George S. Patton
Heaven will be no heaven to me if I do not meet my wife there.
Andrew Jackson
President Reagan didn't always know what he knew.
Oliver North
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
George S. Patton
The road to democracy is not a freeway. It is a toll road on which we pay by accepting and carrying out our civic responsibilities.
Lucius D. Clay
We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.
General Omar N. Bradley
The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
General George S. Patton
Concentrate on finding your goal then concentrate on reaching it.
Colonel Michael Friedman
I don't care a damn for your loyal service when you think I am right when I really want it most is when you think I am wrong.
General Sir John Monash
If any one attempts to haul down the American flag shoot him on the spot.
John A. Dix
All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood.
General George S. Patton
There goes a man made by the Lord Almighty and not by his tailor.
Andrew Jackson
Courage is a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger and a mental willingness to endure it.
General William T. Sherman
Wars may be fought with weapons but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.
General George S. Patton
It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.
General Douglas MacArthur
They love him most for the enemies that he has made.
General E. S. Bragg
I like liquor - its taste and its effects - and that is just the reason why I never drink it.
Thomas Stonewall Jackson
In forty hours I shall be in battle with little information and on the spur of the moment will have to make the most momentous decisions. But I believe that one's spirit enlarges with responsibility and that with God's help I shall make them and make them right.
General George S. Patton