George S. Patton Quotes

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?

Sir, I am not a brave man...The truth is, I am an utter craven coward. I have never been within the sound of gunshot or in sight of battle in my whole life that I wasn't so scared that I had sweat in the palms of my hands.

Just drive down that road, until you get blown up

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

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

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

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

The supreme measure of a man, is what he would risk his life for.

Duty is the essence of manhood.

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.

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

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.

Make your plans to fit the circumstances.

The only way you get on in this profession is to have the reputation of doing what you are told as thoroughly as possible.

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

All of the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters either. Every single man in this Army plays a vital role. Don t ever let up. Don t ever think that your job is unimportant. Every man has a job to do and he must do it. Every man is a vital link in the great chain.

Do as I have taught you, and you will stay alive.

Death can be more exciting than life.

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

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.

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

Always do more than is required of you.

When I want my men to remember something important, to really make it stick, I give it to them double dirty.

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

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.

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

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

No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

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.

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

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.

Perpetual peace is a futile dream.

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

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

To be a successful soldier, you must know history.

Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men.

Officers must be made to care for their men. That is the sole duty of all officers.

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

Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men

There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by praying. Any great military operation takes careful planning, or thinking. Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: that's working. But between the plan and the operation there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes. Some people call that getting the breaks; I call it God. God has His part, or margin in everything, That's where prayer comes in.

Do not make excuses, whether it's your fault or not.

Remember that the enemy is just as frightened as you are and probably more so. They are not supermen

The reason there are so many tree-lined boulevards in Paris is so the German army can march in the shade.

A man is not measured by how much he can take and stand but by how fast he regains once fallen.

The fixed determination to have acquired the warrior soul, to either conquer or perish with honor, is the secret of victory.

Always do everything you ask of those you command.

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

I don’t fear failure. I only fear the slowing up of the engine inside of me which is saying, ‘Keep going, someone must be on top, why not you?