Douglas MacArthur Quotes & Sayings

History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster. — Douglas MacArthur

I have one criticism about the Negro troops who fought under my command in the Korean War. They didn't send me enough of them. — Douglas MacArthur

While Asia is commonly referred to as the Gateway to Europe, it is no less true that Europe is the Gateway to Asia, and the broad influence of the one cannot fail to have its impact upon the other. — Douglas MacArthur

A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. — Douglas MacArthur

Nothing would please me better than if they would give me three months and then attack here. — Douglas MacArthur

The nations of the world will have to unite for the next war will be an interplanetary war. The nations of Earth must some day make a common front against attack by people from other planets. — Douglas MacArthur

On the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other days, on other fields will bear the fruits of victory. — Douglas MacArthur

Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world, and that God will preserve it always. — Douglas MacArthur

Never ask age of a woman. — Douglas MacArthur

Our country is now geared to an arms economy bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and an incessant propaganda of fear. — Douglas MacArthur

In war, as it is waged now, with the enormous losses on both sides, both sides will lose. It is a form of mutual suicide. — Douglas MacArthur

I know war as few other men now living know it, and nothing to me is more revolting. I have long advocated its complete abolition, as its very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes ... But once war is forced upon us, there is no other alternative than to apply every available means to bring it to a swift end. — Douglas MacArthur

For the sentimentalism and emotionalism which have infested our country, we should substitute hard common sense. Pacific habits do not insure peace or immunity from national insult and aggression. — Douglas MacArthur

There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity. — Douglas MacArthur

I've looked that old scoundrel death in the eye many times but this time I think he has me on the ropes. — Douglas MacArthur

The Puerto Ricans forming the ranks of the gallant 65th Infantry on the battlefields of Korea ... are writing a brilliant record of achievement in battle and I am proud indeed to have them in this command. I wish that we might have many more like them. — Douglas MacArthur

We are not retreating - we are advancing in another Direction — Douglas MacArthur

The chickens are coming home to roost, and you happen to have just moved into the chicken house. — Douglas MacArthur

It seems to me the worst possible concept, militarily, that we would simply stay there, resisting aggression, so-called ... it seems to me that the way to "resist aggression" is to destroy the potentialities of the aggressor to continually hit you ... When you say, merely, "we are going to continue to fight aggression," that is not what the enemy is fighting for. The enemy is fighting for a very definite purpose-to destroy our forces ... — Douglas MacArthur

Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons. — Douglas MacArthur

There is not one incident in the history of humanity in which defeatism led to peace which was anything other than a complete fraud. — Douglas MacArthur

In this situation, it becomes vital that our own country orient its policies in consonance with this basic evolutionary condition rather than pursue a course blind to the reality that the colonial era is now past and the Asian peoples covet the right to shape their own free destiny. What they seek now is friendly guidance, understanding, and support - not imperious direction - the dignity of equality and not the shame of subjugation. — Douglas MacArthur

Security lies in our ability to produce. — Douglas MacArthur

There are some who, for varying reasons, would appease Red China. They are blind to history's clear lesson, for history teaches with unmistakable emphasis that appeasement but begets new and bloodier war. It points to no single instance where this end has justified that means, where appeasement has led to more than a sham peace. Like blackmail, it lays the basis for new and successively greater demands until, as in blackmail, violence becomes the only other alternative. — Douglas MacArthur

They died hard, those savage men - like wounded wolves at bay. They were filthy, and they were lousy, and they stunk. And I loved them. — Douglas MacArthur

Expect only 5% of an intelligence report to be accurate.The trick of a good commander is to isolate the 5%. — Douglas MacArthur

Optimism is denial, so face the facts and move on — Douglas MacArthur

In war, you win or lose, live or die - and the difference is just an eyelash. — Douglas MacArthur

Blank cartridges should never be used against a mob, nor should a volley be fired over the heads of the mob even if there is little danger of hurting persons in the rear. Such things will be regarded as an admission of weakness, or an attempt to bluff, and may do more harm than good. — Douglas MacArthur

I believe that the entire effort of modern society should be concentrated on the endeavor to outlaw war as a method of the solution of problems between nations. — Douglas MacArthur

The inescapable price of liberty is an ability to preserve it from destruction. — Douglas MacArthur

Believe me, sir, never a night goes by, be I ever so tired, but I read the Word of God before I go to bed. — Douglas MacArthur

No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation. — Douglas MacArthur

Defensive strategy never has produced ultimate victory. — Douglas MacArthur

I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil. — Douglas MacArthur

The Pacific no longer represents menacing avenues of approach for a prospective invader. It assumes, instead, the friendly aspect of a peaceful lake. Our line of defense is a natural one and can be maintained with a minimum of military effort and expense. — Douglas MacArthur

The scale and grandeur of the Russian effort mark it as the greatest military achievement in all history. — Douglas MacArthur

The enemy is in front of us, the enemy is behind us, the enemy is to the right and to the left of us. They can't get away this time! — Douglas MacArthur

Roosevelt is dead: a man who would never tell the truth when a lie would serve him just as well. — Douglas MacArthur

And like the old soldier in that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the sight to see that duty. — Douglas MacArthur

The hated system of land tenure, so contributory to general unrest in Asia, has been abolished. Every farmer is now accorded the right and dignity of ownership of the land he long has tilled. — Douglas MacArthur

I came through and I shall return. — Douglas MacArthur

No army has ever done so much with so little. — Douglas MacArthur

Freemasonry embraces the highest moral laws and will bear the test of
any system of ethics or philosophy ever promulgated for the uplift of man. — Douglas MacArthur

It seems strangely difficult for some to realize that here in Asia is where the Communist conspirators have elected to make their play for global conquest, and that we have joined the issue thus raised on the battlefield; that here we fight Europe's war with arms while the diplomats there still fight it with words; that if we lose the war to communism in Asia the fall of Europe is inevitable, win it and Europe most probably would avoid war and yet preserve freedom. As you pointed out, we must win. There is no substitute for victory. — Douglas MacArthur

It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past ... The problem is basically theological, and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, and literature, and all material and cultural developments in the past two thousand years. It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh. — Douglas MacArthur

It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it. — Douglas MacArthur

Competitive sports keep alive in us a spirit and vitality. Sports teach the strong to know when they are weak and the brave to face themselves when they are afraid; to be proud and unbowed in defeat, and yet humble and gentle in victory; to master ourselves before we attempt to master others; to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; and to give the predominance of courage over timidity. — Douglas MacArthur

Years wrinkle the skin. Giving up wrinkles the soul. — Douglas MacArthur

Once war is forced upon us, there is no alternative than to apply every available means to bring it to a swift end. War's very object is victory-not prolonged indecision. — Douglas MacArthur

Age wrinkles the body; quitting wrinkles the soul. — Douglas MacArthur

There is no substitute for victory. — Douglas MacArthur

Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair; these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust. Whatever your years, there is in every being's heart the love of wonder, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing childlike appetite for what next, and the joy and the game of life. — Douglas MacArthur

I see that the flagpole still stands. Have your troops hoist the colors to its peak, and let no enemy ever haul them down. — Douglas MacArthur

A good soldier, whether he leads a platoon or an army, is expected to look backward as well as forward; but he must think only forward. — Douglas MacArthur

By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder - infinitely prouder - to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. The one has the potentiality of death; the other embodies creation and life. And while the hordes of death are mighty, the battalions of life are mightier still. It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me not from the battle field but in the home repeating with him our simple daily prayer, Our Father Who Art in Heaven. — Douglas MacArthur

That democracy works and will always work, because the people are allowed to think, to talk, and keep their minds free, open, and supple. — Douglas MacArthur

I'll come back as soon as I can with as much as I can. In the meantime, you've got to hold! — Douglas MacArthur

While I was not consulted prior to the President's decision to intervene in support of the Republic of Korea, that decision from a military standpoint, proved a sound one, as we hurled back the invader and decimated his forces. Our victory was complete, and our objectives within reach, when Red China intervened with numerically superior ground forces. — Douglas MacArthur

Americans never quit. — Douglas MacArthur

You don't win wars by dying for your country you win wars by making the other son of a bitch die for his — Douglas MacArthur

We are bound no longer by the straitjacket of the past and nowhere is the change greater than in our profession of arms. What, you may well ask, will be the end of all of this? I would not know! But I would hope that our beloved country will drink deep from the chalice of courage. — Douglas MacArthur

It is fatal to enter an war without the will to win it. — Douglas MacArthur

The powers in charge keep us in a perpetual state of fear keep us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor with the cry of grave national emergency. Always there has been some terrible evil to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant sums demanded. Yet, in retrospect, these disasters seem never to have happened, seem never to have been quite real. — Douglas MacArthur

In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield. — Douglas MacArthur

To dilute the will to win is to destroy the purpose of the game. There is no substitute for victory. — Douglas MacArthur

Training distinguishes an army from an armed mob. — Douglas MacArthur

There is no security. Only opportunity. — Douglas MacArthur

From the Far East I send you one single thought, one sole idea - written in red on every beachhead from Australia to Tokyo - "There is no substitute for victory!" — Douglas MacArthur

By profession I am a Soldier & take pride in that fact, but I am prouder to be a father. — Douglas MacArthur

I have known war as few men now living know it. It's very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes. — Douglas MacArthur

No plan ever survives its first encounter with the enemy. — Douglas MacArthur

Worry, doubt, fear and despair are the enemies which slowly bring us down to the ground and turn us to dust before we die. — Douglas MacArthur

The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. — Douglas MacArthur

Could I have but a line a century hence crediting a contribution to the advance of peace, I would yield every honor which has been accorded by war. — Douglas MacArthur

For those to whom much is given, much is required. It is not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up. There is no substitute for victory. — Douglas MacArthur

If we will not devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. — Douglas MacArthur

In the mighty and almost limitless potential of American industry-the brilliance and rugged determination of its leaders; the skill, energy and patriotism of its workers-there has been welded an almost impregnable defense against the evil designs of any who would threaten the security of the American continent. It is indeed the most forceful and convincing argument yet evolved to restrain the irresponsibility of those who would recklessly bring down upon the good and peace-loving peoples of all the nations of the earth the disaster of total war. — Douglas MacArthur

The issues which today confront the nation are clearly defined and so fundamental as to directly involve the very survival of the Republic. Are we going to preserve the religious base to our origin, our growth and our progress, or yield to the devious assaults of atheistic or other anti-religious forces? Are we going to maintain our present course toward State Socialism with Communism just beyond or reverse the present trend and regain our hold upon our heritage of liberty and freedom? — Douglas MacArthur

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest wrinkles the soul. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope as old as your despair. In the central place of every heart there is a recording chamber. So long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer and courage, so long are you young. When your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then, and then only, are you grown old. And then, indeed as the ballad says, you just fade away — Douglas MacArthur

Have a good plan, execute it violently, and do it today. — Douglas MacArthur

A soldier plods and groans, sweats and toils, he growls and curses, and at the end he dies. — Douglas MacArthur

Life is a lively process of becoming. — Douglas MacArthur

A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command make him. — Douglas MacArthur

I suppose, in a way, this has become part of my soul. It is a symbol of my life. Whatever I have done that really matters, I've done wearing it. When the time comes, it will be in this that I journey forth. What greater honor could come to an American, and a soldier? — Douglas MacArthur

Never give an order that can't be obeyed. — Douglas MacArthur

My first recollection is that of a bugle call. — Douglas MacArthur

I address you with neither rancor nor bitterness in the fading twilight of life, with but one purpose in mind: to serve my country. — Douglas MacArthur

Old soldiers never die; they just fade away. — Douglas MacArthur

I promise to keep on living as though I expected to live forever. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old only be deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest wrinkles the soul. — Douglas MacArthur

You are remembered for the rules you break. — Douglas MacArthur

The great question is, can war be outlawed from the world? If so, it would mark the greatest advance in civilization since the Sermon on the Mount. — Douglas MacArthur

People of the Philippines: I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God our forces stand again on Philippine soil - soil consecrated in the blood of our two peoples. We have come dedicated and committed to the task of destroying every vestige of enemy control over your daily lives, and of restoring upon a foundation of indestructible strength, the liberties of your people. — Douglas MacArthur

Here are centered the hopes and aspirations and faith of the entire human race. I do not stand here as advocate for any partisan cause, for the issues are fundamental and reach quite beyond the realm of partisan consideration. They must be resolved on the highest plane of national interest if our course is to prove sound and our future protected. I trust, therefore, that you will do me the justice of receiving that which I have to say as solely expressing the considered viewpoint of a fellow American. — Douglas MacArthur

It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear. — Douglas MacArthur

It is my earnest hope - indeed the hope of all mankind - that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past, a world found upon faith and understanding, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance and justice. — Douglas MacArthur

Last, but by no means least, courage of one's convictions, the courage to see things through. The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It's the age-old struggle_ the roar of the crowd on one side and the voice of your conscience on the other. — Douglas MacArthur

While no man in his right mind would advocate sending our ground forces into continental China, and such was never given a thought, the new situation did urgently demand a drastic revision of strategic planning if our political aim was to defeat this new enemy as we had defeated the old. — Douglas MacArthur

In no other profession are the penalties for employing untrained personnel so appalling or so irrevocable as in the military. — Douglas MacArthur

The soldier, above all other men, is required to perform the highest act of religious offering-sacrifice. In battle and in the face of danger and death he discloses those divine attributes which his amke gave when he created in his own image. No physical courage and no brute instincts can take the place of the divine annunciation and spiritual gift which will alone sustain him. — Douglas MacArthur