Macarthur Douglas Quotes & Sayings

The outfit soon took on color, dash and a unique flavor which is the essence of that elusive and deathless thing called soldiering. — Douglas MacArthur

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

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

September 15, 1950, MacArthur launched a brilliantly conceived and executed amphibious landing at Inchon, trapping a large North Korean force after walking ashore several times to ensure a good take for the cameras, his ever-present corncob pipe jutting from his jaw. — Douglas Brinkley

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

Mr. President. Douglas MacArthur said every military disaster can be explained in two words: 'Too late. — Tom Clancy

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 am of Virginia and all my professional life I have studied of Lee and Jackson — 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

Old soldiers never die, they just lose their grip on reality after traumatic brain injuries. — 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

Rules are mostly made to be broken and are too often for the lazy to hide behind. — 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

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

I came out of Bataan and I shall return! — 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

I stand on this rostrum with a sense of deep humility and great pride - humility in the weight of those great American architects of our history who have stood here before me; pride in the reflection that this home of legislative debate represents human liberty in the purest form yet devised. — Douglas MacArthur

Apart from an innate grasp of tactical concepts, a great coach must possess the essentials attributes of leadership which mold men into a cohesive, fighting team with an invincible will to victory. — Douglas MacArthur

It was his [Gen. Douglas MacArthur's] relationship with the administration In Washington which became poisoned by his egomania. Link upon link the bond between events on the battlefield and his own ruin was forged, and, as is essential in genuine tragedy, the gods used the victim himself to forge the links. — William Manchester

It is true that despite occasional gleams of Churchillian eloquence he [Gen. Douglas MacArthur] usually spoke poorly. He was far more effective in conversations a deux. But those who dismiss him as shallow because his rhetoric was fustian err. — William Manchester

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

In war, indeed, there can be no substitute for victory. — Douglas MacArthur

Only those are fit to live who are not afraid to die. — Douglas MacArthur

Global war has become Frankenstein's monster, threatening to destroy both sides. — 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

I have every confidence in the ultimate success of our joint cause; but success in modern war requires something more than courage and a willingness to die: it requires careful preparation. — 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

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

I realize that advice is worth what it costs
that is, nothing. — Douglas MacArthur

Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid, one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory. — Douglas MacArthur

Duty, Honor, Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. — 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

Listen--God only exists in people's minds. Especially in Japan, God's always been kind of a flexible concept. Look at what happened after the war. Douglas MacArthur ordered the divine emperor to quit being God, and he did, making a speech saying he was just an ordinary person. So after 1946 he wasn't God anymore. That's what Japanese gods are like--they can be tweaked and adjusted. Some American comping on a cheap pipe gives the order and presto change-o--God's no longer God. A very postmodern kind of thing. If you think God's there, He is. If you don't, He isn't.
~pages 286-287 — Haruki Murakami

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

I had learned one of the bitter lessons of life: never try to regain the past, the fire will have become ashes. — Douglas MacArthur

He [Gen. Douglas MacArthur] never went to church, but he read the Bible every day and regarded himself as one of the world's two great defenders of Christendom. (The other was the pope.) — William Manchester

Truman fired the popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur because he disobeyed orders in the Korean War. Johnson knew that he had reached the endgame in Vietnam when Gen. William Westmoreland, the top commander in Vietnam, requested 240,000 more troops in 1968 for the prolonged war that also could not be won. — Helen Thomas

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. Douglas MacArthur — Terri Marie

My staff was unanimous in believing that Japan was on the point of collapse and surrender. — Douglas MacArthur

The history of the failure of war can almost be summed up in two words: too late. — 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

Even when opportunity knocks, a man still has to get up off his seat and open the door. — Douglas MacArthur

In short, is American life of the future to be characterized by freedom or by servitude, strength or weakness? The answer must be clear and unequivocal if we are to avoid the pitfalls toward which we are now heading with such certainty. In many respects it is not to be found in any dogma of political philosophy but in those immutable precepts which underlie the Ten Commandments. — 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

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

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

Preparedness is the key to success and victory. — Douglas MacArthur

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

I think we're being laughed at all over the world. I think that if you look at our military, we can't beat ISIS, General George Patton, General Douglas MacArthur are spinning in their grave. We can't beat ISIS, okay? I think that our veterans are not taken care of, they're treated worse than illegal immigrants, by the way. — Donald Trump

I can recall no parallel in history where a great nation recently at war has so distinguished its former enemy commander. — 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

In war there is no substitute for victory. — 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

The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. — Douglas MacArthur

Many will tell you with mockery and ridicule that the abolition of war can only be a dream ... But we must go on or we will all go under. And the great criticism that can be made is that the world lacks a plan that will enable us to go on ... We must have sufficient imagination and courage to translate the universal wish for peace - which is rapidly becoming a universal necessity - into actuality. — 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

Always there has been some terrible evil at home or some monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it. — Douglas MacArthur

Wars are caused by unprotected wealth. — 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

Give me ten thousand Filipino soldiers and I will conquer the world. — 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

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

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. — Douglas MacArthur

Talk of imminent threat to our national security through the application of external force is pure nonsense. Our threat is from the insidious forces working from within which have already so drastically altered the character of our free institutions - those institutions we proudly called the American way of life. — Douglas MacArthur

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

I have just returned from visiting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world! — Douglas MacArthur

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

However horrible the incidents of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country is the noblest development of mankind. — Douglas MacArthur

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

Americans never quit. — 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

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

I will defend Korea as I would my own country-just as I would California. — 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

The untruthful soldier trifles with the lives of his countrymen and the honor and safety of his country. — Douglas MacArthur

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

There is no security. Only opportunity. — Douglas MacArthur