George C. Marshall Quotes & Sayings

As to my political faith- I have never voted. My father was a Democrat, my mother a Republican, and I am an Episcopalian. — George C. Marshall

The refusal of the British and Russian peoples to accept what appeared to be inevitable defeat was the great factor in the salvage of our civilization. — George C. Marshall

The instruments of war can be manufactured ... human blood cannot be; and the lack of just one pint could mean the life of an American serviceman. — George C. Marshall

The choice is between acting with energy or losing by default. — George C. Marshall

There has been considerable comment over the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a soldier. I am afraid this does not seem as remarkable to me as it quite evidently appears to others. I know a great deal of the horrors and tragedies of war ... The cost of war in human lives is constantly spread before me, written neatly in many ledgers whose columns are gravestones. I am deeply moved to find some means or method of avoiding another calamity of war. — George C. Marshall

Discussions without end have been devoted to the subject of peace, and the efforts to obtain a general and lasting peace have been frequent through many years of world history. — George C. Marshall

I am certain that a solution of the general problem of peace must rest on broad and basic understanding on the part of its peoples. Great single endeavors like a League of Nations, a United Nations, and undertakings of that character, are of great importance and in fact absolutely necessary, but they must be treated as steps toward the desired end. — George C. Marshall

It is not enough to fight. It is the spirit which we bring to the fight that decides the issue. It is morale that wins the victory. — George C. Marshall

If man does find the solution for world peace it will be the most revolutionary reversal of his record we have ever known. — George C. Marshall

Climate change is a very unusual ethical challenge because it's so completely measurable ... one of the reasons people should take action is because they have a responsibility for their emissions ... therefore what somebody else does is really irrelevant — George C. Marshall

Go right straight down the road, to do what is best, and to do it frankly and without evasion. — George C. Marshall

Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist. — George C. Marshall

The gallantry and aggressive fighting spirit of the Russian soldiers command the American army's admiration. — George C. Marshall

We must stop setting our sights by the light of each passing ship; instead we must set our course by the stars. — George C. Marshall

The time has come when we must proceed with the business of carrying the war to the enemy, not permitting the greater portion of our armed forces and our valuable material to be immobilized within the continental United States. — George C. Marshall

The soldier's heart, the soldier's spirit, the soldier's soul, are everything. Unless the soldier's soul sustains him he cannot be relied on and will fail himself and his commander and his country in the end. — George C. Marshall

Don't fight the problem, decide it. — George C. Marshall

I don't want you fellows sitting around asking me what to do. I want you to tell me what to do. — George C. Marshall

The only way human beings can win a war is to prevent it. — George C. Marshall

I must have assistants who will solve their own problems and tell me later what they've done. — George C. Marshall

If you get the objectives right, a lieutenant can write the strategy. — George C. Marshall

What other people do shouldn't affect you - we do things because of the kind of person we each want to be — George C. Marshall

Regarding the air raid over Los Angeles it was learned by Army G2 that Rear Admiral Anderson ... recovered an unidentified airplane off the coast of California ... with no bearing on conventional explanation. This Headquarters has come to the determination that the mystery airplanes are in fact not earthly and, according to secret intelligence sources, they are in all probability of interplanetary origin. — George C. Marshall

Military power wins battles, but spiritual power wins wars. — George C. Marshall

The patient is sinking while the doctors deliberate. — George C. Marshall

An essential part of any successful action on the part of the United States is an understanding on the part of the people of America of the character of the problem and the remedies to be applied ... It is virtually impossible at this distance merely by reading, or listening, or even seeing photographs or motion pictures, to grasp at all the real significance of the situation. And yet the whole world of the future hangs on a proper judgment. — George C. Marshall

Wars are bred by poverty and oppression. Continued peace is possible only in a relatively free and prosperous world. — George C. Marshall

I said bluntly that if the president were to follow Mr. Clifford's advice and if in the elections I were to vote, I would vote against the president. — George C. Marshall

The United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. — George C. Marshall

Morale is a state of mind. It is steadfastness and courage and hope. — George C. Marshall

Passive inactivity, because you have not been given specific instructions to do this or to do that, is a serious deficiency. — George C. Marshall

I can't expect loyalty from the army if I do not give it. — George C. Marshall

A similar statement appears in the US Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report (European War) (30 September 1945): The great lesson to be learned in the battered towns of England and the ruined cities of Germany is that the best way to win a war is to prevent it from occurring. — George C. Marshall

The price of peace is eternal vigilance — George C. Marshall

I was very careful to send Mr. Roosevelt every few days a statement of our casualties. I tried to keep before him all the time the casualty results because you get hardened to these things and you have to be very careful to keep them always in the forefront of your mind. — George C. Marshall

You know, I know, all of us know that the time factor is the vital consideration - and vital is the correct meaning of the term - of our national defense program; that we must never be caught in the same situation we found ourselves in 1917. — George C. Marshall

Democracy is the most demanding of all forms of government in terms of the energy, imagination, and public spirit required of the individual. — George C. Marshall

It seems to be hard wired into our pleasure centres to move to music. — George C. Marshall

I will give you the best I have. — George C. Marshall

I think one difficulty is that the problem is one of such enormous complexity that the very mass of facts presented to the public by press and radio make it exceedingly difficult for the man in the street to reach a clear appraisement of the situation. It is virtually impossible at this distance to grasp at all the real significance of the situation. — George C. Marshall

When a thing is done, it's done. Don't look back. Look forward to your next objective. — George C. Marshall

"Morale is the state of mind. It is steadfastness and courage and hope. It is confidence and zeal and loyalty. It is elan, esprit de corps and determination." — George C. Marshall

The one great element in continuing the success of an offensive is maintaining the momentum. — George C. Marshall

We are in the middle of a world revolution, and I don't mean Communism. The revolution I'm talking about is that of the little, poor people all over the world. They're beginning to learn what there is in life, and to learn what they are missing. — George C. Marshall

No compromise is possible and the victory of the democracies can only be complete with the utter defeat of the war machines of Germany and Japan. — George C. Marshall

We are determined that before the sun sets on this terrible struggle, Our Flag will be recognized throughout the World as a symbol of Freedom on the one hand and of overwhelming force on the other. — George C. Marshall

A political problem thought of in military terms eventually becomes a military problem. — George C. Marshall