George S. Patton Quotations | Page 3

Let us not mourn that such men died, but rejoice that such men lived.

A man must know his destiny. if he does not recognize it, then he is lost.

There is only one tactical principle which is not subject to change. It is to use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of wound, death, and destruction on the enemy in the minimum amount of time.

continue to advance until you run out of ammunition. Then, dig in.

Often I have encountered in life that great disappointments have proved to be the road to future successes.

Always advance. Never dig in.

You're never beaten until you admit it

Anyone in any walk of life who is content with mediocrity is untrue to himself and to American tradition.

Fear kills more people than death.

An active mind cannot exist in an inactive body.

In war the only sure defense is offense, and the efficiency of the offense depends on the warlike souls of those conducting it.

To be a successful soldier, you must know history.

Pressure makes diamonds

Perpetual peace is a futile dream.

There are three ways that men get what they want: by planning, by working, and by praying.

In case of doubt, attack.

When in doubt, ATTACK!

Attack rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, without rest, however tired and hungry you may be, the enemy will be more tired, more hungry. Keep punching.

The soldier is the Army. No army is better than its soldiers. The Soldier is also a citizen. In fact, the highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one’s country

Always do more than is required of you.

Never let the enemy pick the battle site.

Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge.

From time to time there will be some complaints that we are pushing our people too hard. I don't give a good Goddamn about such complaints. I believe in the old and sound rule that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood. The harder we push, the more Germans we will kill. The more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that.

Never draw a gun on a man unless you intend to kill him. And believe me, if you do intend to kill him he will already know it. Then he will feel the cold breath of the tomb.

The highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is bearing arms.

The more I see of Arabs the less I think of them. By having studied them a good deal I have found out the trouble. They are the mixture of all the bad races on earth, and they get worse from west to east, because the eastern ones have had more crosses.

I have studied the enemy all my life. I have read the memoirs of his generals and his leaders. I have even read his philosophers and listened to his music. I have studied in detail the account of every damned one of his battles. I know exactly how he will react under any given set of circumstances. And he hasn't the slightest idea of what I'm going to do. So when the time comes, I'm going to whip the hell out of him.

Keep going, someone must be on top, why not you?

Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy.

When in doubt, observe and ask questions. When certain, observe at length and ask many more questions.

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.

Plans must be simple and flexible....They must be made by the people who execute them.

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.

Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.

...It is a proud privilege to be a soldier – a good soldier … [with] discipline, self-respect, pride in his unit and his country, a high sense of duty and obligation to comrades and to his superiors, and a self confidence born of demonstrated ability.

Give me an Army of West Point graduates and I'll win a battle... Give me a handful of Texas Aggies and I'll win a war.

In case of doubt, push on just a little further and then keep on pushing.

No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair.

The test of success is not what you do when you are on top. Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.

May God have mercy for my enemies because I won't.

Make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up.

I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.

A leader is a man who can adapt principles to circumstances.

Urge all of your men to pray, not alone in church, but everywhere. Pray when driving. Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day. Pray for the cessation of immoderate rains, for good weather for Battle.Pray for the defeat of our wicked enemy whose banner is injustice and whose good is oppression. Pray for victory. Pray for our Army, and Pray for Peace. We must march together, all out for God.

Now 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 will always give up. It is always tired morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired. When you were younger the mind could make you dance all night, and the body was never tired... You've always got to make the mind take over and keep going.

To me it seems certain that the fatalistic teachings of Muhammad and the utter degradation of women is the outstanding cause for the arrested development of the Arab. He is exactly as he was around the year 700, while we have kept on developing.

Achievers are resolute in their goals and driven by determination. Discouragement is temporary, obstacles are overcome, and doubt is defeated, yielding to personal victory. You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals. Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.

I do not fear failure. I only fear the "slowing up" of the engine inside of me which is pounding, saying, "Keep going, someone must be on top, why not you?