Military Quotations

There is only one principle of war and that's this.  Hit the other fellow, as quick as you can, and as hard as you can, where it hurts him the most, when he ain't looking. ~ Sir William Slim

In tactics, the most important thing is not whether you go left or right, but why you go left or right. ~ A M Gray

Sculpture him in the nude so that it will be easier for you to kiss his ass. ~ Eustache Bruix, commander in chief of the Napoleon's Boulogne flotilla when asked by members of the court how he thought Napoleon should be sculptured. 

All naval expeditions undertaken since I have headed the government have failed because the misguided admirals have discovered, I know not where, that one can make war without taking any chances. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

. . .against oppression insurrection is not only a right but the most sacred of duties.  Declaration des droits . . . Paris 1789

You [military professionals] must know something about strategy and tactics and logistics, but also economics and politics and diplomacy and history.  You must know everything you can about military power, and you must also understand the limits of military power. 

You must understand that few of the problems of your time have . . .  been solved by military power alone.  ~ John F. Kennedy

A battalion is made up of individuals, the least important of whom may chance to delay things, or . . . make them go wrong. ~ Clausewitz

The first night on Iwo Jima can only be described as a nightmare in hell . . . About the beach in the morning lay the dead.  They had died with the greatest possible violence.  Nowhere in the Pacific have I seen such badly mangled bodies.  Many were cut squarely in half.  Legs and arms lay fifty feed from any body.  ~ Robert Sherrod Time Life correspondent.

Hit quickly, hit hard and keep right on hitting.  Give the enemy no rest, no opportunity to consolidate his forces and hit back at you. ~ Holland M. Smith

I may lose a battle but I shall never lose a minute. ~ Napoleon

Get there furstest with the mostest.  ~Nathan Bedford Forrset

When the great day of battle comes remember your training and remember above all else that speed and violence of attack are the sure road to success. ~ General George Patton.

In small operations as in large, speed is the essential element of success. ~ General George Patton.

Haste and Speed: there is a great difference between these two words.  Haste exists when troops are committed without proper reconnaissance, without the arrangement for proper supporting fire, and before every available man has been brought up.  the result of such an attack will be to get the troops into action early, but to complete the action very slowly. 

Speed is acquired by making the necessary reconnaissance, providing the proper artillery [support] . . . bringing up every [available] man, and then launching the attack with a predetermined plan so that the time under fire will be reduced to the minimum. ~ General George Patton.

Victory smiles upon those who anticipate the changes in the character of war, not upon those who wait to adapt themselves after they occur. ~ Giulio Douhert

It is in the use and withholding of their reserves that the great Commanders have generally excelled.  After all, when once the last reserve has been thrown in, the commander's part is played . . . The event just be left to pluck and to the fighting troops. ~ Winston Churchill

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