Bernard Law Montgomery Quotes

• The first duty of a leader is opti­mism. How does your sub­or­di­nate feel after meet­ing with you? Does he feel uplifted? If not, you are not a leader.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Leader, Firsts, Doe

  163 Copy quote

• My own definition of leadership is this: The capacity and the will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Leadership, Motivation, Character

  160 Copy quote

• Every soldier must know, before he goes into battle, how the little battle he is to fight fits into the larger picture, and how the success of his fighting will influence the battle as a whole.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Fighting, Soldier, Battle

  168 Copy quote

• Rule 1, on page I of the book of war, is: "Do not march on Moscow". Various people have tried it, Napoleon and Hitler, and it is no good. That is the first rule. I do not know whether your Lordships will know Rule 2 of war. It is: "Do not go fighting with your land armies in China". It is a vast country, with no clearly defined objectives...

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Country, War, Book

  Bernard Law Montgomery's Speech In the House of Lords, api.parliament.uk. May 30, 1962.

  126 Copy quote

• Discipline strengthens the mind so that it becomes impervious to the corroding influence of fear.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Discipline, Mind, Influence

  139 Copy quote

• As God once said, and I think rightly.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Thinking, Said

  160 Copy quote

• Why does soldiers leave the protection of his trench hole in the ground and go forward in the face of shot and shell? It is because of the leader who is in front of him and his comrades who are around him. Comradeship makes a man feel warm and courageous when all his instincts tend to make him cold and afraid.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Military, Men, Leader

  106 Copy quote

• Let no man surrender so long as he is unwounded and can fight.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  War, Fighting, Men

  64 Copy quote

• The Sappers really need no tribute from me; their reward lies in the glory of their achievement. The more science intervenes in warfare, the more will be the need for engineers in field armies; in the late war there were never enough Sappers at any time. Their special tasks involved the upkeep and repair of communications; roads, bridges, railways, canals, mine sweeping. The Sappers rose to great heights in World War II and their contribution to victory was beyond all calculations.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  War, Lying, Communication

  117 Copy quote

• The commander must decide how he will fight the battle before it begins. He must then decide who he will use the military effort at his disposal to force the battle to swing the way he wishes it to go; he must make the enemy dance to his tune from the beginning and not vice versa.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Military, Fighting, Swings

  98 Copy quote

• If we lose the war in the air we lose the war and lose it quickly.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  War, Air, Aviation

  44 Copy quote

• Im my profession you have to mystify the enemy.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Enemy, Profession

  53 Copy quote

• I was well beaten myself, and I am better for it.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Wells, Beaten

  "Going well over the top: the link between Monty and Mikey" by Patrick Barkham, www.theguardian.com. May 2, 2005.

  52 Copy quote

• On the eve of this great adventure I send my best wishes to every soldier in the Allied team.
  To us is given the honour of striking a blow for freedom which will live in history; and in the better days that lie ahead men will speak with pride of our doings.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Lying, Pride, Men

  Personal message to troops of 21st Army Group on the eve of D-Day,

  79 Copy quote

• Rule 1, on page 1 of the book of war, is: 'Do not march on Moscow'... Rule 2 is: Do not go fighting with your land armies in China.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  War, Book, Fighting

  Speech in House of Lords, 30 May 1962

  88 Copy quote

• A Marine should be sworn to the patient endurance of hardships, like the ancient knights; and it is not the least of these necessary hardships to have to serve with sailors.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Military, Marine, Knights

  52 Copy quote

• Decisions! And a general, a commander in chief who has not got the quality of decision, then he is no good.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Decision, Quality, Chiefs

  46 Copy quote

• The harder the fighting and the longer the war, the more the infantry, and in fact all the arms, lean on the gunners.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Military, War, Fighting

  80 Copy quote

• Air power is indivisible. If you split it up into compartments, you merely pull it to pieces and destroy its greatest asset - its flexibility.

  Bernard Law Montgomery

  Air, Pieces, Splits

  42 Copy quote

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