George S. Patton Quotes

Success in war depends upon the golden rule of war.

Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.

Those who live in fear die a thousand deaths.

A good battle plan that you act on today can be better than a perfect one tomorrow.

For years I have been accused of making snap judgments. Honestly, this is not the case because I am a profound military student and the thoughts I express, perhaps too flippantly, are the result of years of thought and study.

Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory. Always do more than is required of you. If a man has done his best, what else is there?

Wars are not won by fighting battles; wars are won by choosing battles

My men don't surrender. I don't want to hear of any soldier under my command being captured unless he has been hit. Even if you are hit, you can still fight back.

Always advance. Never dig in.

War is an art and as such is not susceptible of explanation by fixed formula

All glory is fleeting.

Why is it that all battles are fought in the middle of the night, in downpouring rain, and at the corners of four different maps?

You're never beaten until you admit it

I read the Bible - every goddamn day.

Always do everything you ask of those you command.

I am the best damn ass-kicker in the whole U.S. Army!

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?

War is very simple, direct, and ruthless. It takes a simple, direct, and ruthless man to wage war.

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

It is the cold glitter of the attacker's eye not the point of the questing bayonet that breaks the line.

If you go into a battle, it's better to win the first time.

When I want my men to remember something important, to really make it stick, I give it to them double dirty. It may not sound nice to some bunch of little old ladies at an afternoon tea party, but it helps my soldiers to remember. You can't run an army without profanity; and it has to be eloquent profanity. An army without profanity couldn't fight its way out of a piss-soaked paper bag ... As for the types of comments I make, sometimes I just, By God, get carried away with my own eloquence.

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

So let us do real fighting, boring in and gouging, biting.

When we land against the enemy, don't forget to hit him and hit him hard. When we meet the enemy we will kill him. We will show him no mercy.

Duty is the essence of manhood.

The highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is bearing arms.

This is a hell of a way to die.

Go forward until the last round is fired and the last drop of gas is expended ... then go forward on foot!

Untutored courage is useless in the face of educated bullets.

The publicity I have been getting, a good deal of which is untrue, and the rest of it ill considered, has done me more harm than good.

Have taken Trier with two divisions. What do you want me to do? Give it back?

There is no proof nor yet any denial. We were, we are, and we will be.

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.

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.

Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man.

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

Discipline can only be obtained when all the officers are imbued with the sense of their awful obligation to their men and to their country that they cannot tolerate negligence. Officers who fail to correct errors or to praise excellence are valueless in peace and dangerous misfits in war.

You must do your damdest and win.

A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied ten minutes later.

Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack.

Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.

If I do my full duty, the rest will take care of itself.

So as through a glass, and darkly - The age long strife I see - Where I fought in many guises, - Many names, but always me.

It is rather interesting how you get used to death.

Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. 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.

Unless you do your best, the day will come when, tired and hungry, you will halt just short of the goal you were ordered to reach, and by halting you will make useless the efforts and deaths of thousands.

Remember praise is more valuable than blame.

Take calculated risks.

An incessant change of means to attain unalterable ends is always going on; we must take care not to let these sundry means undo 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.

When everyone agrees, someone is not thinking.

If we take the generally accepted definition of bravery as a quality which knows no fear, I have never seen a brave man. All men are frightened. The more intelligent they are, the more they are frightened.

War is a bloody, killing business. You've got to spill their blood, or they will spill yours. Rip them up the belly. Shoot them in the guts.

You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals.

When a decision has to be made, make it. There is no totally right time for anything.

The soldier is the army.

A pint of sweat, saves a gallon of blood.

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

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.

Success demands a high level of logistical and organizational competence.

A piece of spaghetti or a military unit can only be led from the front end.

Successful generals make plans to fit circumstances, but do not try to create circumstances to fit plans.

A man must know his destiny.

Prisoner of War guard companies, or an equivalent organization, should be as far forward as possible in action to take over prisoners of war, because troops heated with battle are not safe custodians. Any attempt to rob or loot prisoners of war by escorts must be dealt strictly with.

Discipline must be a habit so ingrained that it is stronger than the excitement of battle.

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

Never let the enemy pick the battle site.

The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.

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.

There is no such thing as luck, merely opportunity meeting preparedness. George S. Patton Jr.

Each man must not think only of himself, but also of his buddy fighting beside him. We don't want yellow cowards in this Army. They should be killed off like rats. If not, they will go home after this war and breed more cowards. The brave men will breed more brave men. Kill off the Goddamned cowards and we will have a nation of brave men.

War is simple, direct, and ruthless.

I learned very early in my life never to take counsel in my fears.

You shouldn't underestimate an enemy, but it is just as fatal to overestimate him.

You fight like you train.

In the space of two days I had evolved two plans, wholly distinct, both of which were equally feasible. The point I am trying to bring out is that one does not plan and then try to make circumstances fit those plans. One tries to make plans fit the circumstances.

Death can be more exciting than life.

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.

Let's keep our boots polished, bayonets sharpened, and present a picture of force and strength to the Red Army. This is the only language they understand and respect.

Never in history has the navy landed an army at the planned time and place. But if you land us anywhere within 50 miles of Fedela and within 1 week of D-Day. I'll go ahead and win.

Battle ... brings out all that is best.

It is only by doing things others have not that one can advance.

The duties of an officer are the safety, honor, and welfare of your country first; the honor, welfare, and comfort of the men in your command second; and the officer s own ease, comfort, and safety last.

If we aren't victorious, let no man come back alive!

I believe in the old and sound rule that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood.

My men can eat their belts, but my tanks have gotta have gas.

Few men are killed by the bayonet, many are scared by it. Bayonets should be fixed when the fire fight starts

In war nothing is impossible, provided you use audacity.

Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight.

You just wait and see. The lily-livered b*stards in Washington will demobilize. They'll say they've made the world safe for democracy again. The Russians are not such d*mned fools. They'll rebuild; and with modern weapons.

Sometimes I think your life and mine are under the protection of some supreme being or fate , because, after many years of parallel thought, we find ourselves in the positions we now occupy.

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.

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.

Do your damnedest in an ostentatious manner all the time.

All very successful commanders are prima donnas and must be so treated.

An imperfect plan implemented immediately and violently will always succeed better than a perfect plan.

Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it.

I always believe in being prepared, even when I'm dressed in white tie and tails.

Let's shoot the works and win! Yes win it all.

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