"Favorite Patton quote?" Topic

He was a crazy man who said lots of crazy things, but he was also an effective leader who accomplished some amazing things.

What's your favorite (non-movie!) Patton quote?

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

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

"Some [ahem] fool once said that flanks have got to be secure. Since then sonofabitches all over the globe have been guarding their flanks. I don't agree with that. My flanks are something for the enemy to worry about, not me. Before he finds out where my flanks are, I'll be cutting the bastard's throat."

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

"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."

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

"Now I want you to remember that 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."

This works in modern wars as well, I believe.

"Seatbelts are for sissies".

I could be paraphrasing, though.

I like this one….

"Some fool once said that flanks have got to be secure. Since then sonofabitches all over the globe have been guarding their flanks. I don't agree with that. My flanks are something for the enemy to worry about, not me. Before he finds out where my flanks are, I'll be cutting the bastard's throat."

and I guess if I had read all of what darth put in his, I wouldn't have posted this.

I've always like this one from darth's list:

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

"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 the war."

Whoop!

"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 the war."

Unless the enemy has Longhorns.

"Just drive down that road, until you get blown up"

"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. "

"A pint of sweat, saves a gallon of blood."

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

"I have one crunch but the eggplant over there." (Mad Magazine stole this one)

"Here's your GD kitchen." to his wife. He found a structure in a field complete with cooking stove and used a tank to drag it back to their home on the base.

DM

Has to be the one Captain DEwell quoted.

Doug

"I'm a little teapot…"

"Does this dress make my ass look fat?"

Oh, sorry. That was someone else.

Altius, Altius…………

"You, Private, come over to my room and polish my helmet."

Armatures study strategy. Professionals study logistics.

Mr. President, I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops. Uh, depending on the breaks.

"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 the war."

WHOOOOOOOOP!!!!!

"The M1 Garand rifle. Finest instrument of battle ever devised by man."

"Montgomery is a better general than me!"

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

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

Robert

When you put your hand into a bunch of goo that a moment before was your best friend's face, you'll know what to do.

"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."

"Charles R. Codman: You know General, sometimes the men don't know when you're acting.

Patton: It's not important for them to know. It's only important for me to know."

Giving orders is easy, getting them obeyed is hard.

My personal favourite is, as above:

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

"I wish that idiot would stop tailgating…"

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

I first learned this quote in a management training course a gazillion years ago. It was the only thing I remember from the course, but it made an impression on me.

'Watch it going round that truck. Idiots taking up half the road….'

Unless the enemy has Longhorns.

Name me one famous Longhorn general…
What school still has ROTC?????????????????????????????

"Ow, my head!….Driver, I appear to have bumped my head….."

"it's not about winning, it's taking part that counts". At least I think Patton said that.

His poetry was quite interesting too.

I think he said this first:

"The **g **s *d"

But I can't remember about whom it was said. Some nazi general I suppose.