army general Archives - Pictorial Quotes

The scenes on this field would have cured anybody of war.

William Tecumseh Sherman

There will soon come an armed contest between capital and labor. They will oppose each other, not with words and arguments, but with shot and shell, gun-powder and cannon. The better classes are tired of the insane howling of the lower strata and they mean to stop them.

William Tecumseh Sherman

The voice of the people is the voice of humbug.

William Tecumseh Sherman

I intend to make Georgia howl.

William Tecumseh Sherman

In our Country… one class of men makes war and leaves another to fight it out.

William Tecumseh Sherman

I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are.

William Tecumseh Sherman

Grant stood by me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when he was drunk, and now we stand by each other.

William Tecumseh Sherman

War is at its best barbarism.

William Tecumseh Sherman

But, my dear sirs, when peace does come, you may call on me for any thing. Then will I share with you the last cracker, and watch with you to shield your homes and families against danger from every quarter.

William Tecumseh Sherman

You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will.

William Tecumseh Sherman

I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices today than any of you to secure peace.

William Tecumseh Sherman

If forced to choose between the penitentiary and the White House for four years, I would say the penitentiary, thank you.

William Tecumseh Sherman

He belonged to that army known as invincible in peace, invisible in war.

William Tecumseh Sherman

I would make this war as severe as possible, and show no symptoms of tiring till the South begs for mercy.

William Tecumseh Sherman

My aim then was to whip the rebels, to humble their pride, to follow them to their inmost recesses, and make them fear and dread us.

William Tecumseh Sherman

There’s many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory but it is all hell.

William Tecumseh Sherman

War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.

William Tecumseh Sherman

War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want.

William Tecumseh Sherman

War is too serious a matter to leave to soldiers.

William Tecumseh Sherman

This war differs from other wars, in this particular. We are not fighting armies but a hostile people, and must make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of war.

William Tecumseh Sherman

I think I understand what military fame is; to be killed on the field of battle and have your name misspelled in the newspapers.

William Tecumseh Sherman

Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster.

William Tecumseh Sherman

You may as well say, ‘That’s a valiant flea that dare eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion.

William Tecumseh Sherman

If the people raise a great howl against my barbarity and cruelty, I will answer that war is war, and not popularity seeking.

William Tecumseh Sherman

It’s a disagreeable thing to be whipped.

William Tecumseh Sherman

If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve.

William Tecumseh Sherman

If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast.

William Tecumseh Sherman

I make up my opinions from facts and reasoning, and not to suit any body but myself. If people don’t like my opinions, it makes little difference as I don’t solicit their opinions or votes.

William Tecumseh Sherman

It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell.

William Tecumseh Sherman

There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell.

William Tecumseh Sherman

A battery of field artillery is worth a thousand muskets.

William Tecumseh Sherman

An Army is a collection of armed men obliged to obey one man. Every change in the rules which impairs the principle weakens the army.

William Tecumseh Sherman

I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah.

William Tecumseh Sherman

I will accept no commission that would tend to create a rivalry with Grant. I want him to hold what he has earned and got. I have all the rank I want.

William Tecumseh Sherman

My aim, then, was to whip the rebels, to humble their pride, to follow them to their inmost recesses, and make them fear and dread us. Fear is the beginning of wisdom.

William Tecumseh Sherman

Courage – a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it.

William Tecumseh Sherman

War is hell.

William Tecumseh Sherman

I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.

William Tecumseh Sherman

If you don’t have my army supplied, and keep it supplied, we’ll eat your mules up, sir.

William Tecumseh Sherman

While we see the course of the final abolition of human slavery is onward, & we give it the aid of our prayers & all justifiable means in our power, we must leave the progress as well as the result in his hands who sees the end; who chooses to work by slow influences; & with whom two thousand years are but as a single day.

Robert E. Lee

The trite saying that honesty is the best policy has met with the just criticism that honesty is not policy. The real honest man is honest from conviction of what is right, not from policy.

Robert E. Lee

A Union that can only be maintained by swords and bayonets has no charm for me. If the Union is dissolved and government disrupted, I shall return to my native state and share the miseries of my people, and save in defense will draw my sword on none.

Robert E. Lee

You must study to be frank with the world: Frankness is the child of honesty and courage.

Robert E. Lee

Say just what you mean to do on every occasion, and take it for granted you mean to do right.

Robert E. Lee

If a friend asks a favor, you should grant it if it is reasonable; if not, tell him plainly why you cannot: You will wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of any kind.

Robert E. Lee

Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one; the man who requires you to do so is dearly purchased at a sacrifice.

Robert E. Lee

If you have any fault to find with anyone, tell him, not others, of what you complain; there is no more dangerous experiment than that of undertaking to be one thing before a man’s face and another behind his back.

Robert E. Lee

Do your duty in all things, like the old Puritan. You cannot do more; you should never wish to do less.

Robert E. Lee

In this enlightened age, there are few I believe, but what will acknowledge, that slavery as an institution is a moral & political evil in any country. It is useless to expatiate on its disadvantages.

Robert E. Lee

The doctrines & miracles of our Saviour have required nearly two thousand years to convert but a small part of the human race, & even among Christian nations, what gross errors still exist!

Robert E. Lee

We have fought this fight as long, and as well as we know how. We have been defeated. For us as a Christian people, there is now but one course to pursue. We must accept the situation.

Robert E. Lee

I like whiskey. I always did, and that is why I never drink it.

Robert E. Lee

The war… was an unnecessary condition of affairs, and might have been avoided if forebearance and wisdom had been practiced on both sides.

Robert E. Lee

My chief concern is to try to be an humble, earnest Christian.

Robert E. Lee

It is good that war is so horrible, or we might grow to like it.

Robert E. Lee

I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.

Robert E. Lee

Obedience to lawful authority is the foundation of manly character.

Robert E. Lee

I think it better to do right, even if we suffer in so doing, than to incur the reproach of our consciences and posterity.

Robert E. Lee

We must expect reverses, even defeats. They are sent to teach us wisdom and prudence, to call forth greater energies, and to prevent our falling into greater disasters.

Robert E. Lee

Get correct views of life, and learn to see the world in its true light. It will enable you to live pleasantly, to do good, and, when summoned away, to leave without regret.

Robert E. Lee

What a cruel thing war is… to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors.

Robert E. Lee

I tremble for my country when I hear of confidence expressed in me. I know too well my weakness, that our only hope is in God.

Robert E. Lee

I have fought against the people of the North because I believed they were seeking to wrest from the South its dearest rights. But I have never cherished toward them bitter or vindictive feelings, and I have never seen the day when I did not pray for them.

Robert E. Lee

We should live, act, and say nothing to the injury of anyone. It is not only best as a matter of principle, but it is the path to peace and honor.

Robert E. Lee

We failed, but in the good providence of God apparent failure often proves a blessing.

Robert E. Lee

It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.

Robert E. Lee

A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.

Robert E. Lee

The devil’s name is dullness.

Robert E. Lee

I have been up to see the Congress and they do not seem to be able to do anything except to eat peanuts and chew tobacco, while my army is starving.

Robert E. Lee

Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or to keep one.

Robert E. Lee

The education of a man is never completed until he dies.

Robert E. Lee

In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength.

Robert E. Lee

The happiest people I know as a nation are the Burmese; their brightness and cheeriness are proverbial. Kindness to animals is one of their greatest ‘weaknesses’; no Burmese will kill an animal, even if it is to put it out of pain.

Robert Baden-Powell

A good boxing competition gives one the sight of fine men in their prime, trained to the ounce, showing the highest skill, pluck and endurance in carrying out their attack and defence under strict rules of fair play and good temper.

Robert Baden-Powell

Living indoors without fresh air quickly poisons the blood and makes people feel tired and seedy when they don’t know why. For myself, I sleep out of doors in winter as well as summer. I only feel tired or seedy when I have been indoors a lot. I only catch cold when I sleep in a room.

Robert Baden-Powell

The study of Nature brings into a harmonious whole the questions of the Infinite, the Historic, and the Microscopic as part of the Great Creator’s work.

Robert Baden-Powell

Scoutcraft is a means through which the veriest hooligan can be brought to higher thought and to the elements of faith in God; and, coupled with the Scout’s obligation to do a good turn every day, it gives the base of Duty to God and to Neighbour on which the parent or pastor can build with greater ease the form of belief that is desired.

Robert Baden-Powell

To the man who reads ‘Scouting for Boys’ superficially, there is a disappointing lack of religion in the book. But to him who tries it in practice, the basic religion underlying it soon becomes apparent.

Robert Baden-Powell

One of the powerful temptations is that of the cinema palace. The cinema has undoubtedly an enormous attraction for boys, and people are constantly cudgelling their brains how to stop it. But it is one of those things which would be very difficult to stop even if it were altogether desirable.

Robert Baden-Powell

If you are in the country, you should notice landmarks – that is, objects which help you to find your way or prevent you getting lost, such as distant hills, church towers, and nearer objects, such as peculiar buildings, trees, gates, rocks, etc.

Robert Baden-Powell

The most successful detectives owe their success to noticing small signs. Scouts are natural detectives and never let the smallest detail escape them. These small things are called by Scouts ‘Sign.’

Robert Baden-Powell

Of course, animals have to be killed for food or to prevent their doing injury to others or to property. But such killing is too often carried out without regard to the pain inflicted.

Robert Baden-Powell

True Scouts are the best friends of animals, for from living in the woods and wilds, and practising observation and tracking, they get to know more than other people about the ways and habits of birds and animals, and therefore they understand them and are more in sympathy with them.

Robert Baden-Powell

One of the finest statesmen of the present time is also a first-class scout, and that is Mr. Roosevelt, the late President of the United States of America.

Robert Baden-Powell

All Scouts should know about St. George. St. George is the Patron Saint of England; he is also the Patron Saint of cavalry in all countries, and therefore Patron Saint of Scouts.

Robert Baden-Powell

I believe that God put us in this jolly world to be happy and enjoy life.

Robert Baden-Powell

Try and leave this world a little better than you found it, and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate, you have not wasted your time but have done your best.

Robert Baden-Powell

One aim of the Boy Scouts scheme is to revive amongst us, if possible, some of the rules of the knights of old.

Robert Baden-Powell

It always seems to me so odd that when a man dies, he takes out with him all the knowledge that he has got in his lifetime whilst sowing his wild oats or winning successes. And he leaves his sons or younger brothers to go through all the work of learning it over again from their own experience.

Robert Baden-Powell

Apart from the fact that any hardy exercise conduces much to the training and formation of a soldier, pig-sticking tends to give a man what is called a ‘stalker’s eye,’ but which, par excellence, is the soldier’s eye.

Robert Baden-Powell

It is often useful, if an enemy happens to see you, to pretend that you have not seen him. Or it may sometimes be useful to pretend that you have other men with you. I did this once in the Boer War when, having crept up a donga to look at a Boer fort, I was seen by the enemy, and they came out to capture me.

Robert Baden-Powell

Football in itself is a grand game for developing a lad physically and also morally, for he learns to play with good temper and unselfishness, to play in his place and ‘play the game,’ and these are the best of training for any game of life.

Robert Baden-Powell

From the boys’ point of view, scouting puts them into fraternity-gangs, which is their natural organisation, whether for games, mischief, or loafing; it gives them a smart dress and equipments; it appeals to their imagination and romance; and it engages them in an active, open-air life.

Robert Baden-Powell

In assisting his ‘neighbour’ every day to the best of his ability, and keeping truth, honesty, and kindness perpetually before him, the Boy Scout, with as little formality as possible, is pleasing God.

Robert Baden-Powell

The knowledge that we have brother scouts working in the same uniform, to the same ends, in the same way, in all corners of the Empire, cannot but make scouts proud of their brotherhood, and cannot fail to bring them into closer sympathy.

Robert Baden-Powell

Scouting is nothing less than applied Christianity.

Robert Baden-Powell

Development of outlook naturally begins with a respect for God… Reverence to God and reverence for one’s neighbor and reverence for oneself as a servant of God.

Robert Baden-Powell

One thing Britons have always been celebrated for, and that is being able to stick it out in a tight place.

Robert Baden-Powell

Personally, I like reading adventures which really have happened to people, because they show what kind of things might happen to oneself, and they teach one how to ‘Be Prepared’ to meet them.

Robert Baden-Powell

The best workers, like the happiest livers, look upon their work as a kind of game: the harder they play the more enjoyable it becomes.

Robert Baden-Powell

If you make yourself indispensable to your employer, he is not going to part with you in a hurry no matter what it costs him.

Robert Baden-Powell

Juvenile crime is not naturally born in the boy, but is largely due either to the spirit of adventure that is in him, to his own stupidity, or to his lack of discipline, according to the nature of the individual.

Robert Baden-Powell

The Scoutmaster who is a hero to his boys holds a powerful lever to their development but at the same time brings a great responsibility on himself. They are quick enough to see the smallest characteristic about him, whether it be a virtue or a vice.

Robert Baden-Powell

Erudition – that is, reading, writing, and arithmetic – is taught in the schools; but where is the more important quality, character, taught? Nowhere in particular. There is no authorized training for children in character.

Robert Baden-Powell

There are thousands of boys being wasted daily to our country through being left to become characterless, and, therefore, useless wasters, a misery to themselves and an eyesore and a danger to the nation. They could be saved if only the right surroundings or environment were given to them at the receptive time of their lives.

Robert Baden-Powell

Giving responsibility is the key to success with boys, especially with the rowdiest and most difficult boys.

Robert Baden-Powell

Swimming has its educational value – mental, moral, and physical – in giving you a sense of mastery over an element, and of power of saving life, and in the development of wind and limb.

Robert Baden-Powell

Show me a poorly uniformed troop and I’ll show you a poorly uniformed leader.

Robert Baden-Powell

When you want a thing done, ‘Don’t do it yourself’ is a good motto for Scoutmasters.

Robert Baden-Powell

The method of instruction in Scouting is that of creating in the boy the desire to learn for himself.

Robert Baden-Powell

No man is much good unless he believes in God and obeys His laws.

Robert Baden-Powell

A man who risks his life in shooting big game in order to secure good specimens for natural history collections, or to rid a district of a man-eater or other dangerous neighbor, is a sportsman in the true sense.

Robert Baden-Powell

One of the first duties of a Scout is obedience to authority. He must obey his orders in the first place and put his own amusement or desires in the second.

Robert Baden-Powell

Happiness doesn’t come from being rich, nor merely from being successful in your career, nor by self-indulgence. One step towards happiness is to make yourself healthy and strong while you are a boy so that you can be useful and so you can enjoy life when you are a man.

Robert Baden-Powell

Nature study will show you how full of beautiful and wonderful things God has made the world for you to enjoy. Be contented with what you have got and make the best of it. Look on the bright side of things instead of the gloomy one.

Robert Baden-Powell

Life would pall if it were all sugar; salt is bitter if taken by itself; but when tasted as part of the dish, it savours the meat. Difficulties are the salt of life.

Robert Baden-Powell

My belief is that we were put into this world of wonders and beauty with a special ability to appreciate them, in some cases to have the fun of taking a hand in developing them, and also in being able to help other people instead of overreaching them and, through it all, to enjoy life – that is, to be happy.

Robert Baden-Powell

Happiness is within the reach of everyone, rich or poor. Yet comparatively few people are happy. I believe the reason for this is that the majority don’t recognize happiness even when it is within their grasp.

Robert Baden-Powell

You may be rich, but there is one thing you can’t afford – that is, if you are a good sort – you can’t afford to spend money on your own luxuries while there are people around you wanting the necessaries of life.

Robert Baden-Powell

The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.

Robert Baden-Powell

A boy carries out suggestions more wholeheartedly when he understands their aim.

Robert Baden-Powell

If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.

Robert Baden-Powell

The uniform makes for brotherhood, since when universally adopted it covers up all differences of class and country.

Robert Baden-Powell

An individual step in character training is to put responsibility on the individual.

Robert Baden-Powell

Success in training the boy depends largely on the Scoutmaster’s own personal example.

Robert Baden-Powell

To get a hold on boys you must be their friend.

Robert Baden-Powell

We never fail when we try to do our duty, we always fail when we neglect to do it.

Robert Baden-Powell

The Scoutmaster teaches boys to play the game by doing so himself.

Robert Baden-Powell

See things from the boy’s point of view.

Robert Baden-Powell

No one can pass through life, any more than he can pass through a bit of country, without leaving tracks behind, and those tracks may often be helpful to those coming after him in finding their way.

Robert Baden-Powell

The spirit is there in every boy; it has to be discovered and brought to light.

Robert Baden-Powell

Correcting bad habits cannot be done by forbidding or punishment.

Robert Baden-Powell

A Scout is never taken by surprise; he knows exactly what to do when anything unexpected happens.

Robert Baden-Powell

Be Prepared… the meaning of the motto is that a scout must prepare himself by previous thinking out and practicing how to act on any accident or emergency so that he is never taken by surprise.

Robert Baden-Powell

Trust should be the basis for all our moral training.

Robert Baden-Powell

The more responsibility the Scoutmaster gives his patrol leaders, the more they will respond.

Robert Baden-Powell

A Scout smiles and whistles under all circumstances.

Robert Baden-Powell

Nobody can ever pin you down when you speculate.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Someone once asked, ‘What is the difference between me and Saddam Hussein?’ The answer is, ‘I have a conscience and he doesn’t.’

Norman Schwarzkopf

Tanks being deployed far forward is an indication of offensive action; tanks in depth is an indication of defensive action.

Norman Schwarzkopf

When the Normandy Invasion was planned, a very specific strategic objective was given, and that strategic objective was the basis upon which the plan for the Normandy Invasion was derived.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Unfortunately, if you’ve ever been in southern Georgia on the beaches in a lightning storm, if you’re out there, you’re in great, great danger, and you can be killed very, very quickly.

Norman Schwarzkopf

The Patriot missile is a point defence missile. Point defence means that you put the missile at a location to defend a very specific target such as an airfield, a supply dump or a headquarters.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I saw Kuwait many times before the war. I remember it as a beautiful place, full of very nice people, and it’s a tragedy to see that somebody could set out to deliberately destroy a country the way the Iraqis have.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Generals aren’t in the business of commenting on the correctness or incorrectness of the President’s decisions. Anybody who thinks he should be able to do that ought to be fired on the spot.

Norman Schwarzkopf

With a chemical alarm, you’re going to build one that is oversensitive because you would rather the alarm go off and give you a false alarm than to err on the other side.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I do not want to be a pawn in a political campaign.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Hey, I’m not a politician. I’m a ham. I love to give speeches.

Norman Schwarzkopf

War’s a profanity because, let’s face it, you’ve got two opposing sides trying to settle their differences by killing as many of each other as they can.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Carpet bombing tends to portray something that’s totally indiscriminate, you know, en masse without regard to the target.

Norman Schwarzkopf

As young West Point cadets, our motto was ‘duty, honor, country.’ But it was in the field, from the rice paddies of Southeast Asia to the sands of the Middle East, that I learned that motto’s fullest meaning. There I saw gallant young Americans of every race, creed and background fight, and sometimes die, for ‘duty, honor, and their country.’

Norman Schwarzkopf

I think any student of military strategy would tell you that in order to attack a position, you should have a ratio of approximately 3 to 1 in favor of the attacker.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I’ve got to tell you what, the soldier doesn’t fight very hard for a leader who is going to shoot him, okay, on his own whim. That’s not what military leadership is all about.

Norman Schwarzkopf

When I fish, I stop thinking about anything else. But truth be told, if you want to declare victories, I can tell you the fish have won a lot more than I have. It’s interesting that something with a brain the size of a fish’s can outsmart us humans, who think we are el supremo.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I can stand in a crystal stream without another human around me and cast all day long, and if I never catch a single fish, I can come home and still feel like I had a wonderful time. It’s the being there that’s important.

Norman Schwarzkopf

To be an effective leader, you have to have a manipulative streak – you have to figure out the people working for you and give each tasks that will take advantage of his strength.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Moving into an unoccupied village when there’s no opposition, I don’t call that a military victory.

Norman Schwarzkopf

This gulf war syndrome thing is truly unfortunate, and I’ve met some of the vets who have this. These are my guys, and I feel terrible about it.

Norman Schwarzkopf

There’s no doubt in my mind that whichever commander ordered the blowing up of Kamisiyah did so in following the instructions that he had received.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I am an environmentalist, but I’m not a wacko environmentalist. I believe that mankind and nature can live side-by-side for the mutual benefit of both.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I do hunt, and I do fish, and I don’t apologize to anybody for hunting and fishing.

Norman Schwarzkopf

What people don’t understand is this is something that we only have in America. There is no other country in the world where the ordinary citizen can go out and enjoy hunting and fishing. There’s no other nation in the world where that happens. And it’s very much a part of our heritage.

Norman Schwarzkopf

They say the good Lord doesn’t charge you for the days you hunt and fish, and I believe that.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I may have made my reputation as a general in the Army, and I’m very proud of that. But I’ve always felt that I was more than one-dimensional. I’d like to think I’m a caring human being.

Norman Schwarzkopf

All you have to do is hold your first soldier who is dying in your arms, and have that terribly futile feeling that I can’t do anything about it… Then you understand the horror of war.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I’ve managed to convince my wife that somewhere in the Bible it says, ‘Man cannot have too many shotguns and fishing poles.’

Norman Schwarzkopf

I can’t even begin to visualize myself as a five-star general… When I think of the people who are five-star generals, I can’t even see myself standing in their shadow.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I am not one of these guys who is just going to waste American lives by throwing people needlessly in frontal attacks up against the enemy if I can avoid doing that.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I’m not a type-B personality who knows I have a cancer growing inside of me and can live with the knowledge. I go into a kung-fu attack position when I go through the door of a hospital.

Norman Schwarzkopf

For the entire first part of my career, I prided myself on being unflappable even in the most chaotic of circumstances.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I am living proof that if you catch prostate cancer early, it can be reduced to a temporary inconvenience, and you can go back to a normal life.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Fish are a renewable resource, and one of the problems we’ve had is people feel obliged to catch the limit, then throw ’em in the garbage can.

Norman Schwarzkopf

The fun of fishing is catching ’em, not killing ’em.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I’m not a politician. I’d make a lousy politician.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I prided myself on being unflappable even in the most chaotic of circumstances.

Norman Schwarzkopf

What is postwar Iraq going to look like, with the Kurds and the Sunnis and the Shiites? That’s a huge question, to my mind.

Norman Schwarzkopf

You can’t help but… with 20/20 hindsight, go back and say, ‘Look, had we done something different, we probably wouldn’t be facing what we are facing today.’

Norman Schwarzkopf

I like to say I’m not a hero.

Norman Schwarzkopf

An awful lot has been written about my temper.

Norman Schwarzkopf

But I would defy anyone to go back over the years and tell me anyone whose career I’ve ruined, anyone whom I’ve driven out of the service, anyone I’ve fired from a job.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I get angry at a principle, not a person.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I was lucky enough to lead a very successful war.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Good generalship is the realisation that you’ve got to figure out how to accomplish your mission with the minimum loss of human life.

Norman Schwarzkopf

First of all, Saddam did not win the war, even though he says he did, I mean, you know, that’s a joke and everybody in the world knows it.

Norman Schwarzkopf

If Saddam were to be replaced tomorrow he would probably be replaced with someone who’s just as bad or worse than he is.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Particularly when you’re dealing with very high ranking people, you know, you have to get their attention, they are used to, by their rank, of having their own way and doing their own thing and when it’s necessary to all work together on something, sometimes you have to hit the mule between the eyes with a two by four to get its attention.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Well, unfortunately, I have always regretted the fact that I have a temper, but I also have, you know, have great love and respect for all of the people that have worked for me. I think like everything else, this is one of those things that has been blown out of proportion.

Norman Schwarzkopf

It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.

Norman Schwarzkopf

It’s nice to feel that you have a purpose.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I’d like to think I’m a caring human being.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I may have made my reputation as a general in the Army and I’m very proud of that. But I’ve always felt that I was more than one-dimensional.

Norman Schwarzkopf

If it had been our intention to take Iraq, if it had been our intention to destroy the country, if it had been our intention to overrun the country, we could have done it unopposed.

Norman Schwarzkopf

The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.

Norman Schwarzkopf

A professional soldier understands that war means killing people, war means maiming people, war means families left without fathers and mothers.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Any soldier worth his salt should be antiwar. And still there are things worth fighting for.

Norman Schwarzkopf

True courage is being afraid, and going ahead and doing your job anyhow, that’s what courage is.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Going to war without France is like going hunting without an accordion.

Norman Schwarzkopf

As far as Saddam Hussein being a great military strategist, he is neither a strategist, nor is he schooled in the operational arts, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general, nor is he a soldier. Other than that, he’s a great military man, I want you to know that.

Norman Schwarzkopf

The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I hate war. Absolutely, I hate war.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Good generalship is a realization that… you’ve got to try and figure out how to accomplish your mission with a minimum loss of human life.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Had the United States and the United Kingdom gone on alone to capture Baghdad, under the provisions of the Geneva and Hague conventions we would have been considered occupying powers and therefore would have been responsible for all the costs of maintaining or restoring government, education and other services for the people of Iraq.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Had we taken all of Iraq, we would have been like a dinosaur in the tar pit – we would still be there, and we, not the United Nations, would be bearing the costs of that occupation.

Norman Schwarzkopf

War is a profane thing.

Norman Schwarzkopf

You learn far more from negative leadership than from positive leadership. Because you learn how not to do it. And, therefore, you learn how to do it.

Norman Schwarzkopf

A great deal of the capability of an army is its dedication to its cause and its will to fight. You can have the best equipment in the world, you can have the largest numbers in the world, but, if you’re not dedicated to your cause, if you don’t have the will to fight, then, you are not going to have a very good army.

Norman Schwarzkopf

I’m not proud of killing, of being responsible for the death of a single person. I never will be.

Norman Schwarzkopf

He is neither a strategist nor is he schooled in the operational arts, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general. Other than that he’s a great military man.

Norman Schwarzkopf

It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.

Norman Schwarzkopf

When placed in command, take charge.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Throw off your worries when you throw off your clothes at night.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.

Napoleon Bonaparte

In politics… never retreat, never retract… never admit a mistake.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.

Napoleon Bonaparte

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.

Napoleon Bonaparte

France has more need of me than I have need of France.

Napoleon Bonaparte

I am the successor, not of Louis XVI, but of Charlemagne.

Napoleon Bonaparte

When soldiers have been baptized in the fire of a battle-field, they have all one rank in my eyes.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The army is the true nobility of our country.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The battle of Austerlitz is the grandest of all I have fought.

Napoleon Bonaparte

It is my wish that my ashes may repose on the banks of the Seine, in the midst of the French people, whom I have loved so well.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Respect the burden.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.

Napoleon Bonaparte

With audacity one can undertake anything, but not do everything.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Ability is nothing without opportunity.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Men take only their needs into consideration – never their abilities.

Napoleon Bonaparte

One must change one’s tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one’s superiority.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A Constitution should be short and obscure.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A revolution can be neither made nor stopped. The only thing that can be done is for one of several of its children to give it a direction by dint of victories.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Ambition never is in a greater hurry than I; it merely keeps pace with circumstances and with my general way of thinking.

Napoleon Bonaparte

One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent.

Napoleon Bonaparte

In order to govern, the question is not to follow out a more or less valid theory but to build with whatever materials are at hand. The inevitable must be accepted and turned to advantage.

Napoleon Bonaparte

War is the business of barbarians.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A man cannot become an atheist merely by wishing it.

Napoleon Bonaparte

All religions have been made by men.

Napoleon Bonaparte

There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.

Napoleon Bonaparte

There are only two forces that unite men – fear and interest.

Napoleon Bonaparte

I have only one counsel for you – be master.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.

Napoleon Bonaparte

You must not fear death, my lads; defy him, and you drive him into the enemy’s ranks.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Let the path be open to talent.

Napoleon Bonaparte

I made all my generals out of mud.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.

Napoleon Bonaparte

From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.

Napoleon Bonaparte

We must laugh at man to avoid crying for him.

Napoleon Bonaparte

I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Imagination rules the world.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The human race is governed by its imagination.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The great proof of madness is the disproportion of one’s designs to one’s means.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Medicines are only fit for old people.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in my pharmacy.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A true man hates no one.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The French complain of everything, and always.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Public opinion is the thermometer a monarch should constantly consult.

Napoleon Bonaparte

It requires more courage to suffer than to die.

Napoleon Bonaparte

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.

Napoleon Bonaparte

There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.

Napoleon Bonaparte

An army marches on its stomach.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.

Napoleon Bonaparte

It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.

Napoleon Bonaparte

If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.

Napoleon Bonaparte

When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.

Napoleon Bonaparte

There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue.

Napoleon Bonaparte

I can no longer obey; I have tasted command, and I cannot give it up.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The infectiousness of crime is like that of the plague.

Napoleon Bonaparte

If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one’s self to destiny.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.

Napoleon Bonaparte

If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.

Napoleon Bonaparte

If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The act of policing is, in order to punish less often, to punish more severely.

Napoleon Bonaparte

In politics stupidity is not a handicap.

Napoleon Bonaparte

He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Forethought we may have, undoubtedly, but not foresight.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.

Napoleon Bonaparte

History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The best way to keep one’s word is not to give it.

Napoleon Bonaparte

What is history but a fable agreed upon?

Napoleon Bonaparte

A leader is a dealer in hope.

Napoleon Bonaparte

There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Women are nothing but machines for producing children.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Victory belongs to the most persevering.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.

Napoleon Bonaparte

History is a set of lies agreed upon.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.

Napoleon Bonaparte

I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other.

Napoleon Bonaparte

England is a nation of shopkeepers.

Napoleon Bonaparte

He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The extent of your consciousness is limited only by your ability to love and to embrace with your love the space around you, and all it contains.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.

Napoleon Bonaparte

When Allah decides a matter, it is done.

Khalid ibn al-Walid

Do not say that! How few are the Romans and how numerous are we ! ‘An army’s strength lies not in numbers of men but in Allah’s help, and its weakness lies in being forsaken by Allah

Khalid ibn al-Walid

And here I am, dying in my bed, like cattle die. May the eyes of cowards never sleep.

Khalid ibn al-Walid

Wait a while; there will come to you mounts, carrying lions in shining armor, battalions followed by battalions.

Khalid ibn al-Walid

Man intends one thing, but Allah intends another.

Khalid ibn al-Walid

I have dedicated my life to the way of Allah, Most High.

Khalid ibn al-Walid

If Abu Bakr is dead and Umar is Caliph, then we hear and obey.

Khalid ibn al-Walid

When I am in the battlefield, I love it more then my wedding night with the most beautiful of women

Khalid ibn al-Walid

If you are truthful you will survive. If you lie you shall perish.

Khalid ibn al-Walid

The earth destroys its fools, but the intelligent destroy the earth.

Khalid ibn al-Walid

When I am in the battlefield, I love it more than my wedding night with the most beautiful of women

Khalid ibn al-Walid

May the eyes of cowards never sleep

Khalid ibn al-Walid

Submit to Islam and be safe. Or agree to the payment of the Jizya (tax), and you and your people will be under our protection, else you will have only yourself to blame for the consequences, for I bring the men who desire death as ardently as you desire life.

Khalid ibn al-Walid

As a rule, men worry more about what they can’t see than about what they can.

Julius Caesar

If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it.

Julius Caesar

It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.

Julius Caesar

Men willingly believe what they wish.

Julius Caesar

Men freely believe that which they desire.

Julius Caesar

What we wish, we readily believe, and what we ourselves think, we imagine others think also.

Julius Caesar

In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes.

Julius Caesar

It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life.

Julius Caesar

Which death is preferably to every other? ‘The unexpected’.

Julius Caesar

I had rather be first in a village than second at Rome.

Julius Caesar

The die is cast.

Julius Caesar

Men are nearly always willing to believe what they wish.

Julius Caesar

I have lived long enough to satisfy both nature and glory.

Julius Caesar

I have lived long enough both in years and in accomplishments.

Julius Caesar

It is not these well-fed long-haired men that I fear, but the pale and the hungry-looking.

Julius Caesar

Experience is the teacher of all things.

Julius Caesar

It was the wont of the immortal gods sometimes to grant prosperity and long impunity to men whose crimes they were minded to punish in order that a complete reverse of fortune might make them suffer more bitterly.

Julius Caesar

I have always reckoned the dignity of the republic of first importance and preferable to life.

Julius Caesar

I am prepared to resort to anything, to submit to anything, for the sake of the commonwealth.

Julius Caesar

During a few days’ halt near Vesontio for the provision of corn and other supplies, a panic arose from inquiries made by our troops and remarks uttered by Gauls and traders, who affirmed that the Germans were men of a mighty frame and an incredible valour and skill at arms.

Julius Caesar

Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.

Julius Caesar

I came, I saw, I conquered.

Julius Caesar

I love the name of honor, more than I fear death.

Julius Caesar

Men in general are quick to believe that which they wish to be true.

Julius Caesar

Cowards die many times before their actual deaths.

Julius Caesar

No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected.

Julius Caesar

Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation through very slight forces.

Julius Caesar

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

George S. Patton

Always do everything you ask of those you command.

George S. Patton

There is only one sort of discipline, perfect discipline.

George S. Patton

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.

George S. Patton

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

George S. Patton

We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.

George S. Patton

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.

George S. Patton

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.

George S. Patton

Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.

George S. Patton

Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.

George S. Patton

Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.

George S. Patton

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

George S. Patton

A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.

George S. Patton

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

George S. Patton

A pint of sweat, saves a gallon of blood.

George S. Patton

Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn’t give a hoot and hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost nor ever lose a war.

George S. Patton

If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you’ll be amazed at the results.

George S. Patton

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.

George S. Patton

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

George S. Patton

Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle.

George S. Patton

Do your damnedest in an ostentatious manner all the time.

George S. Patton

If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.

George S. Patton

The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That’s the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead!

George S. Patton

Untutored courage is useless in the face of educated bullets.

George S. Patton

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

George S. Patton

Better to fight for something than live for nothing.

George S. Patton

Battle is an orgy of disorder.

George S. Patton

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

George S. Patton

If a man does his best, what else is there?

George S. Patton

Nobody ever defended anything successfully, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.

George S. Patton

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.

George S. Patton

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

George S. Patton

There is a time to take counsel of your fears, and there is a time to never listen to any fear.

George S. Patton

Life is a lively process of becoming.

Douglas MacArthur

Always there has been some terrible evil at home or some monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it.

Douglas MacArthur

It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear.

Douglas MacArthur

Our country is now geared to an arms economy bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and an incessant propaganda of fear.

Douglas MacArthur

Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear – kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor – with the cry of grave national emergency.

Douglas MacArthur

Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.

Douglas MacArthur

Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul.

Douglas MacArthur

There is no substitute for victory.

Douglas MacArthur

A better world shall emerge based on faith and understanding.

Douglas MacArthur

I have just returned from visiting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world!

Douglas MacArthur

I have known war as few men now living know it. It’s very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes.

Douglas MacArthur

The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It’s the age-old struggle: the roar of the crowd on the one side, and the voice of your conscience on the other.

Douglas MacArthur

Duty, Honor, Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be.

Douglas MacArthur

We are not retreating – we are advancing in another direction.

Douglas MacArthur

Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid, one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.

Douglas MacArthur

In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield.

Douglas MacArthur

Could I have but a line a century hence crediting a contribution to the advance of peace, I would yield every honor which has been accorded by war.

Douglas MacArthur

I’ve looked that old scoundrel death in the eye many times but this time I think he has me on the ropes.

Douglas MacArthur

In war, you win or lose, live or die – and the difference is just an eyelash.

Douglas MacArthur

My first recollection is that of a bugle call.

Douglas MacArthur

Americans never quit.

Douglas MacArthur

In war there is no substitute for victory.

Douglas MacArthur

There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity.

Douglas MacArthur

I am concerned for the security of our great Nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within.

Douglas MacArthur

One cannot wage war under present conditions without the support of public opinion, which is tremendously molded by the press and other forms of propaganda.

Douglas MacArthur

Only those are fit to live who are not afraid to die.

Douglas MacArthur

A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command make him.

Douglas MacArthur

Like the old soldier of the ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.

Douglas MacArthur

The best luck of all is the luck you make for yourself.

Douglas MacArthur

They died hard, those savage men – like wounded wolves at bay. They were filthy, and they were lousy, and they stunk. And I loved them.

Douglas MacArthur

Never give an order that can’t be obeyed.

Douglas MacArthur

You are remembered for the rules you break.

Douglas MacArthur

I suppose, in a way, this has become part of my soul. It is a symbol of my life. Whatever I have done that really matters, I’ve done wearing it. When the time comes, it will be in this that I journey forth. What greater honor could come to an American, and a soldier?

Douglas MacArthur

It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.

Douglas MacArthur

The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.

Douglas MacArthur

Part of the American dream is to live long and die young. Only those Americans who are willing to die for their country are fit to live.

Douglas MacArthur

You have reached end of the world!

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