# Military Quotes



## whiterose (Oct 6, 2008)

Any favorite military quotes? Here's some of mine:

You have never lived 'til you've almost died. For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the protected will never know. 
- unknown

Where is the prince who can afford so to cover his country with troops for its defence, so that ten thousand men descending from the clouds might not, in many places, do an infinite deal of mischief before a force could be brought together to repel them? 
- Benjamin Franklin, 1784

The secret of the Paratrooper's success can be summed up in three words; comradeship, esprit de corps & efficiency.
- Major Rudolf Böhmler, German paratrooper in WW2, Cassino.

Close combat, man to man, is plainly to be regarded as the real basis of combat.
- Carl Von Clausewitz

We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.
- George Orwell

When they say “special operations“, they are not kidding: these people are special. From an operational standpoint, physiological standpoint, they can do things that nobody else can do. 
- Dennis Grahn, Senior Research Scientist, Stanford University, in the National Geographic’s TV documentary _Fight Masters: Special Forces_

Praise be to the LORD my Rock, 
who trains my hands for war, 
my fingers for battle.
- Psalm 144:1 Bible (NIV)


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## TheGunDoctor (Oct 7, 2008)

1. "It is war that shapes peace, and armament that shapes war."
- Thomas Fuller

2. "You don't win a war by dying for your country. You win a war by making the other bastard die for his."
- General George Patton

3. "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons."
- General MacArthur 

4. "If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn't plan your mission properly."
- David Hackworth

5. "A private who loses a rifle suffers far greater consequences than a general who loses a war."
- LT. COL. Paul Yingling, 3rd Armored Cavalry

6. "One cannot wage war under present conditions without the support of public opinion, which is tremendously molded by the press and other forms of propaganda."
- General Douglas MacArthur

7. It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again.  Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause.  Who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.  So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
— Theodore Roosevelt


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## Cecil (Oct 7, 2008)

TheGunDoctor said:


> 7. It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again.  Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause.  Who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.  So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
> — Theodore Roosevelt



#7 is my personal favorite


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## Scotth (Oct 7, 2008)

"Lead, Follow or get the hell out of the way"

My DI

Not a famous quote but something that stuck with me my whole life.


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## GSXRanger (Oct 7, 2008)

*"Self Licking Ice Cream Cone"*_ ~ MSG Chris Grall 3/20th SFG(A)_

I know Chris was not the original drafter of that statement, but when I heard him say that, I fucking damn near pissed my pants. I still crack up to this day when I say it.


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## Ajax (Oct 7, 2008)

GSXRanger said:


> *"Self Licking Ice Cream Cone"*_ ~ MSG Chris Grall 3/20th SFG(A)_
> 
> I know Chris was not the original drafter of that statement, but when I heard him say that, I fucking damn near pissed my pants. I still crack up to this day when I say it.



I believe it was Robert Kaplan in 2003 describing the "Sovietization" of Bagram after SOF turned things over to 18th Airborne, there were no-vehicle pt hours on the only road to the flight line, you had to have a weapon OR a PT belt (I suppose so the enemy could see you, either that or it was some sort of decloaking device), and Col's and SGM's kept flying in to get a combat patch with absolutely no job to do other than bitch at some SF dude who hadn't shaved in a couple months.


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## GSXRanger (Oct 7, 2008)

Ajax said:


> I believe it was Robert Kaplan in 2003 describing the "Sovietization" of Bagram after SOF turned things over to 18th Airborne, there were no-vehicle pt hours on the only road to the flight line, you had to have a weapon OR a PT belt (I suppose so the enemy could see you, either that or it was some sort of decloaking device), and Col's and SGM's kept flying in to get a combat patch with absolutely no job to do other than bitch at some SF dude who hadn't shaved in a couple months.



I hear ya... not to hijack, but... I was there from Jan 02 till Nov 02 on my first go round... long beard and all. When I went back in 03, well... it just sucked ass. Even worse now I hear... 

On to our regularly scheduled thread now... :doh:


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## MsKitty (Oct 7, 2008)

*"Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."  Winston Churchill *

*"I admire men of character, and I judge character NOT by how men deal with their superiors, but mostly how they deal with their subordinates, and that, to men, is where you find out what the character of a man is".   General H. Norman Schwartzkopf  *


#7 above it on another profile I have out there.


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## ROS (Oct 7, 2008)

Fuck it, drive on. 

Dunno who said it first, but I learned it from the 1st Book of Hoss, Chapter 2.


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## Totentanz (Oct 7, 2008)

I prefer the one in my sig (John 15:13, not the other one).


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## Josh466 (Oct 7, 2008)

"Experience proves that the man who obstructs a war in which his nation is engaged, no matter whether right or wrong, occupies no enviable place in life or history. Better for him, individually, to advocate "war, pestilence, and famine," than to act as an obstructionist to a war already begun... The most favorable posthumous history the stay-at-home traitor can hope for is--oblivion." U.S. Grant

•	Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom — go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! 
	Samuel Adams

I leave this rule for others when I'm dead, Be always sure you're right--then go ahead.--Davy Crockett

"It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner. That is the way it was and will be. That way and not some other way." 


Anyone happen to know what the last one is from? Not sure where I got it.


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## x SF med (Oct 7, 2008)

_



War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ~~
		
Click to expand...

_


> _John Stuart Mill, __English economist & philosopher (1806 - 1873) _


My favorite.


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## Josh466 (Oct 7, 2008)

x SF med said:


> My favorite.



I don't know how I could miss that one, it's one of my favorites.  Had it as a screen saver for a while.


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## LibraryLady (Oct 7, 2008)

"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.  The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty... And what country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.  It is its natural manure." 

Thomas Jefferson

LL


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## car (Oct 7, 2008)

*"If all you captains don't shut the fuck up, I'm gonna ask the SGM to turn off 'Sesame Street!"*

_MSG John Garrison, 205th MI Bde TOC, Jan '06._


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## GSXRanger (Oct 8, 2008)

x SF med said:


> My favorite.






> War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.



SF med... that one has always moved me deeply. Thank you for posting that one...


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## Poccington (Oct 24, 2008)

SF Med.... I've never seen that one before. It's actually quite moving.... Thanks for posting it.


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## 0699 (Oct 24, 2008)

*"All you homos look the other way.  I'm getting ready to eat my banana now and I don't want any of you getting excited."*

Me, Division COC, 2005.

Apparantly I was loud enough that the SWO overheard it and sent a clerk to find out who said it...


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## Polar Bear (Oct 24, 2008)

x SF med said:


> My favorite.


 
That has been my favorite for a long long time. 

Not my favorite but I did hit my head on it. The only graffiti on a steam pipe in our platoon CP. I report the first day, turn around straight into a steam pipe  WHACK the shit out of my head into it *"Think WAR"*


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## 8'Duece (Oct 25, 2008)

*"It ain't nothin but a thing" *

Not spectacular, but heard it everyday of my life in the 82nd Airborne. ;)


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## LibraryLady (Nov 6, 2008)

Just found this one.

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. - Zell Miller (D) Georgia 2004 

LL


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## wardog763 (Nov 8, 2008)

"Fuck 'em! Grease 'em!"
Unknown 2/160th pilot to his gunners on seeing the enemy lighting fires on mountain tops trying to triangulate their position.


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