George S Patton Quotes
224 George S Patton Quotes
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[There are] no new battles to be fought.
George S Patton
We will win because we will never lose! There can never be defeat if a man refuses to accept defeat. Wars are lost in the mind before they are lost on the ground. No nation was ever defeated until the people were willing to accept defeat.
George S Patton
We must have a superiority complex. Always attack. Never surrender.
George S Patton
Use steamroller strategy; that is, make up your mind on course and direction of action, and stick to it. But in tactics, do not steamroller. Attack weakness.
George S Patton
Wars are not won by defensive tactics.
George S Patton
Digging is primarily defensive. The only time it is proper for a soldier to dig is when he has reached his final objective in an attack, or when he is bivouacking under circumstances where he thinks he may be strafed from the air or is within artillery range of the enemy.
George S Patton
Personally, I am opposed to digging… as the chance of getting killed while sleeping normally on the ground is quite remote, and the fatigue from digging innumerable slit trenches is avoided.
George S Patton
The psychological effect [from digging trenches] on the soldier is bad, because if he thinks he has to dig he must think the enemy is dangerous, which he usually is not.
George S Patton
‘Hit the dirt’ is another expression which has done much to increase our casualties. … The soldier, obsessed with the idea of hitting the dirt, lies down and waits supinely for the arrival of the shells… he usually doesn’t have to wait long.
George S Patton
The fact that you are shooting adds to your self-confidence, because you feel that you are doing something, and are not sitting like a duck in a bathtub being shot at.
George S Patton
I was faced with the necessity of making a decision either to continue a hopeless attack or to lose face in front of the British and violate my own principles of war by agreeing to stop the attack. I felt that, under the circumstances, I was not justified in demanding further sacrifice. I therefore directed General Eddy to discontinue the attack. I think this was one of the most difficult decisions I ever had to make.
George S Patton
As a result of this operation, we took the position without casualty…
George S Patton
Had I failed, I would have been relieved.
George S Patton
Forget this goddamn business of worrying about our flanks, but not to the extent we don’t do anything else. Some goddamned fool once said that our flanks must be secured and since then sons of bitches all over the world have been going crazy guarding their flanks. We don’t want any of that in the Third Army.
George S Patton
Flanks are something for the enemy to worry about, not us.
George S Patton
I don’t want to get any messages saying that, ‘We are holding our position.’ We’re not holding anything! … We’re not interested in holding on to anything except the enemy.
George S Patton
We are advancing constantly and we’re not interested in holding on to anything except the enemy.
George S Patton
We’re going to hold on to him by the nose and we’re going to kick him in the ass; we’re going to kick the hell out of him all the time and we’re going to go through him like crap through a goose…
George S Patton
We have one motto, ‘L’audace, l’audace, toujours l’audace!’ (Audacity, audacity, always audacity!)
George S Patton
[General Omar] Bradley called up to ask me how soon I could go on the defensive. I told him I was the oldest leader in age and in combat experience in the United States Army in Europe, and that if I had to go on the defensive I would ask to be relieved. He stated I owed too much to the troops and would have to stay on. I replied that a great deal was owed to me, and unless I could continue attacking I would have to be relieved.
George S Patton
I told him… a prompt attack with three was better than waiting for six – particularly when I did not [from] where I could get the other three. … I am sure that this early attack was of material assistance in producing our victory.
George S Patton
I felt that… it was not necessary to hold a reserve, but to attack with everything we had.
George S Patton
I want them to look up and howl, ‘Ach! It’s the goddamn Third Army and that son-of-a-bitch Patton again!
George S Patton
[Requoted Napoleon] The only right way of learning the science of war is to read and reread the campaigns of the great captains.
George S Patton
And think about what you read.
George S Patton
There is a time to take counsel of fear, and there is a time to forget your fears. … The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision.
George S Patton
When you have collected all of the facts and fears, make your decision. After you make your decision, forget all of your fears and go full steam ahead.
George S Patton
Never half on the near side of a river or mountain range. Secure a bridgehead in both cases, because, even if you do not intend to exploit the crossing, the possession of a bridgehead on the far side cramps the enemy’s style.
George S Patton
Haste exists when troops are committed without proper reconnaissance, without the arrangement for proper supporting fire, and before every available man has been brought up. The result of such an attack will be to get the troops into action early, but to complete the action very slowly.
George S Patton
Speed is acquired by making the necessary reconnaissance, providing the proper artillery and other tactical support, including air support, bringing up every man, and then launching the attack with a predetermined plan so that the time under fire will be reduced to the minimum.
George S Patton
At the battalion level four hours spent in preparation for an attack will probably insure the time under fire not exceeding thirty minutes. One hour spent in preparation of an attack will almost certainly insure time under fire lasting many hours with bloody casualties.
George S Patton
It takes at least six weeks to get a man ready to fight in the desert. Anything short of six weeks, and we will lose more men from heat than from the enemy.
George S Patton
It’s a damn waste of the most wonderful manhood of America to send green troops into combat before they are ready. We must train to win.
George S Patton
We must always know exactly what we know and what we do not know. Never get the two confused! If we get confused over what we know we can cause many men to die.
George S Patton
How do we know that?
George S Patton
Washington is the most unreliable source of information you could ever use! An officer in a swivel chair in the Pentagon actually knows nothing. All that he knows comes from the soldiers in the field.
George S Patton
I do not want to come down too hard on these poor souls in the Pentagon, but they know almost nothing from firsthand knowledge. Everything they know is secondhand information. All they do is collect paper facts from the field organizations.
George S Patton
The purpose of collecting the … information is that, if we know what causes our casualties and where they occur, we can take steps to avoid them.
George S Patton
No man can do anything without knowing what he is doing…
George S Patton
Generals and staff officers don’t win wars! Soldiers win wars!
George S Patton
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