George S. Patton Quotes

United States Army general (1885–1945)

General George Smith Patton, Jr. (11 November 1885 – 21 December 1945) was a senior officer of the United States Army, who commanded the U.S. Seventh Army in the Mediterranean and European Theaters of World War II, but is best known for his leadership of the U.S. Third Army in France and Germany following the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. He was known in his time as "America's Fightingest General".

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Native Name: George Smith Patton, Jr. • George Smith Patton Jr.

Also Known As: Old Blood and Guts

Alternative Names: The Old Man • Bandito • General Patton • G.S. Patton • George Patton • George Smith Patton • G.S. Patton, Jr.

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Now if you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired.

Remember that the enemy is just as frightened as you are, and probably more so. They are not supermen.

Always do everything you ask of those you command.

There are three ways that men get what they want: by planning, by working, and by praying. Any great military operation takes careful planning or thinking. Then you must have well trained troops to carry it out: that's working. But between the plan and the operation there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory; success or failure. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes. Some people call that getting the breaks. I call it God. God has His part or margin in everything. That's where prayer comes in.

Always do more than is required of you.

From time to time there will be some complaints that we are pushing our people too hard. I don't give a good Goddamn about such complaints. I believe in the old and sound rule that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood. The harder we push, the more Germans we will kill. The more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that.

Each man must not think only of himself, but also of his buddy fighting beside him. We don't want yellow cowards in this Army. They should be killed off like rats. If not, they will go home after this war and breed more cowards. The brave men will breed more brave men. Kill off the Goddamned cowards and we will have a nation of brave men.

It is not the American soldiers duty do die for his country. It is the American soldiers duty to make the enemy die for his country.

No dumb bastard ever won a war by going out and dying for his country. He won it by making some other dumb bastard die for his country.

Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.

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

"There is one great thing that you men will all be able to say after this war is over and you are home once again. ... You can look him straight in the eye and say, "Son your Granddaddy rode with the Great Third Army and a Son of a Goddamned Bitch named Georgie Patton.

Live for something rather than die for nothing.

Remember that the enemy is just as frightened as you are and probably more so. They are not supermen

I wonder if I could have been here before as I drive up the Roman road the Theater seems familiar — perhaps I headed a legion up that same white road... I passed a chateau in ruins which I possibly helped escalade in the middle ages. There is no proof nor yet any denial. We were, We are, and we will be.