Military Quotes - Page 2

• Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Courage, War, Leader

  Carl von Clausewitz (2012). “Principles of War”, p.14, Courier Corporation

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• The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.

  George Washington

  Veterans Day, War, Us Veterans

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  There's a storm inside of us, a burning river, a drive. You push yourself further than anyone could think possible. You are never out of the fight.

  Marcus Luttrell

  Motivational, Fighting, Thinking

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  I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.

  Nathan Hale

  Inspirational, Life, Country

  Before being executed as a spy by the British, 22 September 1776, in Henry Phelps Johnston 'Nathan Hale, 1776' (1914) ch. 7.

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• There is at least one thing worse than fighting with allies - And that is to fight without them

  Winston Churchill

  Fighting, Allies, One Thing

  Winston Churchill (1987). “The Irrepressible Churchill: Stories, Sayings and Impressions of Sir Winston Churchill”, London : Robson Books

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• Be sure you are right, then go ahead.

  Davy Crockett

  Inspirational, Leadership, Wisdom

  Davy Crockett (1987). “A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee”, p.19, U of Nebraska Press

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• Meanwhile, the U.S. debt remains, as it has been since 1790, a war debt; the United States continues to spend more on its military than do all other nations on earth put together, and military expenditures are not only the basis of the government's industrial policy; they also take up such a huge proportion of the budget that by many estimations, were it not for them, the United States would not run a deficit at all.

  David Graeber

  Running, War, Government

  "Debt: The First 5000 Years". Book by David Graeber, 2011.

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• Every time the Secretary of Defense tries to get a hand on his many intelligence programs, we hear warnings about the dire consequences to liberty. When you look behind those warnings, what you really see is the CIA trying to preserve its perks.

  Mark Riebling

  Hands, Trying, Liberty

  "Rumsfeld’s Spy Unit". "To the Point" with Warren Olney, NPR, markriebling.blogs.com. October 31, 2002.

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• The military mind tends to be conservative, realistic and historical. The civilian mind tends to be liberal, idealistic and Utopian. Journalists, obviously, are civilians, and they tend to distrust, and to suspect, the military's motives.

  Mark Riebling

  Historical, Mind, Conservative

  "Rumsfeld’s Spy Unit". "To the Point" with Warren Olney, NPR, markriebling.blogs.com. October 31, 2002.

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• Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

  Isaac Asimov

  Wise, Peace, War

  Isaac Asimov (1951). “The foundation trilogy: three classics of science fiction”

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• To foster the people's willing spirit is often as important as to possess the more concrete forms of power.

  B. H. Liddell Hart

  People, Important, Spirit

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• All men are timid on entering any fight. Whether it is the first or the last fight, all of us are timid. Cowards are those who let their timidity get the better of their manhood.

  George S. Patton

  Fighting, Men, Coward

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• History is replete with examples of empires mounting impressive military campaigns on the cusp of their impending economic collapse.

  Eric Alterman

  War, Example, Campaigns

  Eric Alterman (1999). “Sound and Fury: The Making of the Punditocracy”, p.259, Cornell University Press

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• How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!

  Maya Angelou

  Strong Women, Veterans Day, Courage

  "Celebrating Our She-roes" by Jill S. Tietjen, www.huffingtonpost.com. June 10, 2014.

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• We've backed off in good faith to try and give you a chance to straighten this problem out. But I am going to beg with you for a minute. I'm going to plead with you, do not cross us. Because if you do, the survivors will write about what we do here for 10,000 years.

  James Mattis

  Faith, Patriotic, Writing

  "19 Unforgettable Quotes From Retiring General James 'Mad Dog' Mattis" by Geoffrey Ingersoll and Paul Szoldra, www.businessinsider.com. January 23, 2013.

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• Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense.

  Winston Churchill

  Life, Inspiring, Graduation

  Speech at Harrow School, Harrow, England, 29 Oct. 1941

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• Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.

  George S. Patton

  Veterans Day, Courage, Fear

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• The less there is of fear, the less there is of danger.

  Livy

  Danger

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• There is the guilt all soldiers feel for having broken the taboo against killing, a guilt as old as war itself. Add to this the soldier's sense of shame for having fought in actions that resulted, indirectly or directly, in the deaths of civilians. Then pile on top of that an attitude of social opprobrium, an attitude that made the fighting man feel personally morally responsible for the war, and you get your proverbial walking time bomb.

  Philip Caputo

  Attitude, War, Fighting

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• Look at an infantryman's eyes and you can tell how much war he has seen.

  Bill Mauldin

  War, Eye, Looks

  Up Front cartoon caption (1945)

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• Any communitys arm of force - military, police, security - needs people in it who can do necessary evil, and yet not be made evil by it. To do only the necessary and no more. To constantly question the assumptions, to stop the slide into atrocity.

  Lois McMaster Bujold

  People, Evil, Police

  "Barrayar". Book by Lois McMaster Bujold, 1991.

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• Only great and general battles can produce great results

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Battle, Results, Produce

  Sun Tzu, Julius Caesar, Einhard, Niccolò Machiavelli, Carl von Clausewitz (2016). “Strategy Six Pack”, p.372, Lulu.com

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  There are hunters and there are victims. By your discipline...you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim.

  James Mattis

  Discipline, Hunters, Mad Dogs

  "Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq". Book by Thomas E. Ricks, armedforcesjournal.com. July 2006.

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• [The] aim is not so much to seek battle as to seek a strategic situation so advantageous that if it does not of itself produce the decision, its continuation by a battle is sure to achieve this. In other words, dislocation is the aim of strategy.

  B. H. Liddell Hart

  Decision, Battle, Doe

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• Air forces offered the possibility of striking a the enemy's economic and moral centres without having first to achieve 'the destruction of the enemy's main forces on the battlefield'. Air-power might attain a direct end by indirect means - hopping over opposition instead of overthrowing it.

  B. H. Liddell Hart

  Mean, Air, Enemy

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