Patton George Quotes & Sayings

Prisoner of War guard companies, or an equivalent organization, should be as far forward as possible in action to take over prisoners of war, because troops heated with battle are not safe custodians. Any attempt to rob or loot prisoners of war by escorts must be dealt strictly with. — George S. Patton

My men don't surrender. I don't want to hear of any soldier under my command being captured unless he has been hit. Even if you are hit, you can still fight back. — George S. Patton

I read the Bible - every goddamn day. — George S. Patton

A leader is a man who can adapt principles to circumstances. — George S. Patton

I am a Soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight. — George S. Patton Jr.

Unless you do your best, the day will come when, tired and hungry, you will halt just short of the goal you were ordered to reach, and by halting you will make useless the efforts and deaths of thousands. — George S. Patton

Remember that the enemy is just as frightened as you are and probably more so. They are not supermen — George S. Patton Jr.

Battle is an orgy of disorder. — George S. Patton Jr.

May God have mercy for my enemies because I won't. — George S. Patton Jr.

I never take counsel of my fears. — George S. Patton

War is simple, direct, and ruthless. — George S. Patton

Do not make excuses, whether it's your fault or not. — George S. Patton Jr.

Urge all of your men to pray, not alone in church, but everywhere. Pray when driving. Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day. Pray for the cessation of immoderate rains, for good weather for Battle.Pray for the defeat of our wicked enemy whose banner is injustice and whose good is oppression. Pray for victory. Pray for our Army, and Pray for Peace. We must march together, all out for God. — George S. Patton

Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash. — George S. Patton

I have the utmost confidence that through your efforts we will eventually beat the hell out of those bastards - You name them; I'll shoot them! — George S. Patton

If everybody's thinking the same thing, then nobody's thinking. — George S. Patton

All very successful commanders are prima donnas and must be so treated. — George S. Patton

Better to fight for something than live for nothing. — George S. Patton Jr.

The fixed determination to have acquired the warrior soul, to either conquer or perish with honor, is the secret of victory. — George S. Patton

Gen. George S. Patton Jr. fears no one. But now he sleeps flat on his back in a hospital bed. His upper body is encased in plaster, the result of a car accident twelve days ago. Room 110 is a former utility closet, just fourteen feet by sixteen feet. There are no decorations, pictures on the walls, or elaborate furnishings - just the narrow bed, white walls, and a single high window. A chair has been brought in for Patton's wife, Beatrice, who endured a long, white-knuckle flight over the North Atlantic from the family home in Boston to be at his bedside. She sits there now, crochet hook moving silently back and forth, raising her eyes every few moments to see if her husband has awakened. — Bill O'Reilly

A real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood. — George S. Patton Jr.

The soldier is the Army. No army is better than its soldiers. The Soldier is also a citizen. In fact, the highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one's country — George S. Patton Jr.

Notoriously outspoken, his sentences always punctuated with profanities, General George S. Patton was the epitome of what a leader should be like - or so he thought. Patton believed a leader should look and act tough, so he cultivated his image and his personality to match his philosophy. — Simon Sinek

All men are timid on entering any fight. Whether it is the first or the last fight, all of us are timid. Cowards are those who let their timidity get the better of their manhood. — George S. Patton

In forty hours I shall be in battle, with little information, and on the spur of the moment will have to make the most momentous decisions. But I believe that one's spirit enlarges with responsibility and that, with God's help, I shall make them, and make them right. — George S. Patton

Make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. — George S. Patton

In the space of two days I had evolved two plans, wholly distinct, both of which were equally feasible. The point I am trying to bring out is that one does not plan and then try to make circumstances fit those plans. One tries to make plans fit the circumstances. — George S. Patton

The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his. — George S. Patton

An Army is a team. It lives sleeps eats and fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is pure horse shit — George S. Patton Jr.

Son, only a pimp in a Louisiana whore- house carries pearl-handled revolvers. These are ivory. — George S. Patton Jr.

God doesn't punish people who take their lives. They need him more than anyone else. - General George Patton — Scott Middlemist

All of the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters either. Every single man in this Army plays a vital role. Don t ever let up. Don t ever think that your job is unimportant. Every man has a job to do and he must do it. Every man is a vital link in the great chain. — George S. Patton Jr.

If I do my full duty, the rest will take care of itself. — George S. Patton

The apocalypse is coming, that's the one thing I like about George Bush, I really think he can get us into the ... apocalypse, like the BIBLICAL ... I really think he believes that he'll be the guy in the white hat. I think he's read the Stephen King novel The Stand a couple times, and he really thinks there's a dark man in the desert somewhere and he's gonna fight him or something. — Patton Oswalt

Rommel, you magnificent bastard! I read your book! — George S. Patton Jr.

The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That's the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead! — George S. Patton

Live for something rather than die for nothing.
- George Patton — Cindy Gerard

Containment is a strategy for losers! But as General George S. Patton famously observed, Americans play to win all the time. Americans don't play to lose. — Bobby Jindal

Never draw a gun on a man unless you intend to kill him. And believe me, if you do intend to kill him he will already know it. Then he will feel the cold breath of the tomb. — George S. Patton Jr.

Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory. Always do more than is required of you. If a man has done his best, what else is there? — George S. Patton

The most vital quality a soldier can possess is self-confidence. — George S. Patton

When in doubt, observe and ask questions. When certain, observe at length and ask many more questions. — George S. Patton

There is a time to take counsel of your fears, and there is a time to never listen to any fear. — George S. Patton

When there is fear of failure, there will be failure. — George S. Patton

We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. — George S. Patton

I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed! Gen. — George S. Patton

By perseverance, study, and eternal desire, any man can become great. — George S. Patton

Tanks are new and special weapon-newer than, as special, and certainly as valuable as the airplane. — George S. Patton

A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed at some indefinite time in the future. — George S. Patton Jr.

Take calculated risks. — George S. Patton

Always do everything you ask of those you command. — George S. Patton

If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking. — George S. Patton Jr.

Anyone in any walk of life who is content with mediocrity is untrue to himself and to American tradition. — George S. Patton Jr.

Human beings are made up of flesh and blood, and a miracle fiber called courage. — George S. Patton Jr.

To Hell With Compromises — George S. Patton Jr.

Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack. — George S. Patton

If I could have three wishes, one would be to take an '88 and shove that barrel up Hitler's ass so that cocksucker can cry like the little god-damned girl he is. And hell, after that, I wouldn't need two more wishes. — George S. Patton

There are scenes here and effects here that would make George S. Patton wince. — Joel Siegel

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 is never tired if the mind is not tired. — George S. Patton Jr.

The courageous man is the man who forces himself, in spite of his fear, to carry on. — George S. Patton

Achievers are resolute in their goals and driven by determination. Discouragement is temporary, obstacles are overcome, and doubt is defeated, yielding to personal victory. You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals. Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory. — George S. Patton

So let us do real fighting, boring in and gouging, biting. — George S. Patton

You must do your damdest and win. — George S. Patton

Let us not mourn that such men died, but rejoice that such men lived. — George S. Patton

The only way anyone ever won a war, is to make the enemy hurt so bad that he can't stand it any more.
... George S. Patton — George S. Patton Jr.

I always believe in being prepared, even when I'm dressed in white tie and tails. — George S. Patton

George Patton and Winston Churchill are simpatico. — Bill O'Reilly

There is no such thing as luck, merely opportunity meeting preparedness. George S. Patton Jr. — George S. Patton

You're never beaten until you admit it — George S. Patton

I don't fear failure. I only fear the slowing up of the engine inside of me which is saying, 'Keep going, someone must be on top, why not you? — George S. Patton Jr.

You cannot be disciplined in great things and undisciplined in small things. Brave undisciplined men have no chance against the discipline and valour of other men. Have you seen a few policemen handle a crowd? — George S. Patton Jr.

Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy. — George S. Patton

A piece of spaghetti or a military unit can only be led from the front end. — George S. Patton

When in doubt, ATTACK! — George S. Patton Jr.

Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn't give a hoot and hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor ever lose a war. — George S. Patton

No sane man is unafraid in battle, but discipline produces in him a form of vicarious courage. — George S. Patton

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. — George S. Patton

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 morning, noon, and night. But the body is
never tired if the mind is not tired. When you were younger
the mind could make you dance all night, and the body was
never tired ... You've always got to make the mind take over
and keep going. — George S. Patton Jr.

The obvious thing for the cavalryman to do is to accept the fighting machine as a partner, and prepare to meet more fully the demands of future warfare. — George S. Patton

An incessant change of means to attain unalterable ends is always going on; we must take care not to let these sundry means undo eminence in the perspective of our minds; for, since the beginning, there has been an unending cycle of them, and for each its advocates have claimed adoption as the sole solution of successful war. — George S. Patton

Sometimes I think your life and mine are under the protection of some supreme being or fate , because, after many years of parallel thought, we find ourselves in the positions we now occupy. — George S. Patton

Give me an Army of West Point graduates and I'll win a battle ... Give me a handful of Texas Aggies and I'll win a war. — George S. Patton Jr.

All men are frightened. The more intelligent they are, the more they are frightened. - George S. Patton — Luke Smitherd

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. — George S. Patton Jr.

Take not counsel of your fears — George S. Patton

I learned very early in my life never to take counsel in my fears. — George S. Patton

Do your duty as you see it, and damn the consequences. — George S. Patton Jr.

America loves a winner, and will not tolerate a loser, this is why America has never, and will never, lose a war. — George S. Patton

Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men — George S. Patton Jr.

Many, who should know better, think that wars can be decided by soulless machines, rather than by the blood and anguish of brave men. — George S. Patton

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom. — George S. Patton

In landing operations, retreat is impossible, to surrender is as ignoble as it is foolish. above all else remember that we as attackers have the initiative, we know exactly what we are going to do, while the enemy is ignorant of our intentions and can only parry our blows. We must retain this tremendous advantage by always attacking rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, and without rest. — George S. Patton

Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle. — George S. Patton

When a decision has to be made, make it. There is no totally right time for anything. — George S. Patton

Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable. — George S. Patton

Do your damnedest in an ostentatious manner all the time. — George S. Patton

Let's shoot the works and win! Yes win it all. — George S. Patton

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

Go forward until the last round is fired and the last drop of gas is expended ... then go forward on foot! — George S. Patton

You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals. — George S. Patton