A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command make him. — Douglas MacArthur
The best generals are those who have served in the artillery. — Napoleon Bonaparte
Good generals select intelligent officers, thoughtful advisors, and brave subordinates. They oversee their troops like a fierce tiger with wings. — Zhuge Liang
The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom. — Sun Tzu
the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril. — Sun Tzu
When a general complains of the morale of his troops, the time has come to look at his own. — George C. Marshall
Battles are sometimes won by generals; wars are nearly always won by sergeants and privates. — F. E. Adcock
It is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for the purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve great results. — Sun Tzu
Military men are just dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy. — Henry A. Kissinger
We have good corporals and good sergeants and some good lieutenants and captains, and those are far more important than good generals. — William Tecumseh Sherman
General Otis is proclaimed American Military Governor of the Philippines and I protest a thousand times and with all the force in my soul against such pretension. — Emilio Aguinaldo
Short Military General Quotes
A good general not only sees the way to victory; he also knows when victory is impossible. — Polybius
In Russia, we have proverb: Only bad soldiers don't want to be general. — Sasha Pivovarova
The general of a large army may be defeated, but you cannot defeat the determined mind of a peasant. — Confucius
To win by strategy is no less the role of a general than to win by arms. — Julius Caesar
Ten soldiers wisely led will beat a hundred without a head. — Euripides
People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.
General Army Quotes
He who neither drinks, nor smokes, nor dances, he who preaches & even occasionally practice piety, temperance and celibacy, is generally a saint, or a mahatma or more likely a humbug but he certainly won't make a leader or for that matter a good soldier — Sam Manekshaw
Your Marines having been under my command for nearly six months, I feel that I can give you a discriminating report as to their excellent standing with their brothers of the army and their general good conduct. — John J. Pershing
Begum Hazrat Mahal of Oudh was the last of the breed of able queens and generals. The queen led her kingdom's army into battle during the revolt of 1857. Even after she was defeated she defied Queen Victoria's famous Proclamation and issued a counter Proclamation. — Qurratulain Hyder
People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.
The only weapon I had was my dancing.
With that I fought like a general without an army.
If I could have saved all the energy I wasted on my struggle
it would have sufficed me to cover a dozen ballets. — Maya Plisetskaya
I had orders to report to Brigadier General Lindsey, and he said to me, "Well, York, I hear you have captured the whole damned German army." And I told him I only had 132. — Alvin C. York
I grew up in a time when people believed in duty, honor and country. My grandfathers were both officers. My father was a General in the Air Force. My brother and I were both in the Army. I've always felt a kinship with soldiers; I think it's possible to support the warrior and be against the war. — Kris Kristofferson
People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.
The trouble with military rule is that every colonel or general is soon full of ambition. The navy takes over today and the army tomorrow. — Yakubu Gowon
I am going to Spain to fight an army without a general, and thence to the East to fight a general without an army. — Julius Caesar
We made a great mistake in the beginning of our struggle, and I fear, in spite of all we can do, it will prove to be a fatal mistake. We appointed all our worst generals to command our armies, and all our best generals to edit the newspapers — Robert E. Lee
Man does not have the right to develop his own mind. This kind of liberal orientation has great appeal. We must electrically control the brain. Some day armies and generals will be controlled by electrical stimulation of the brain. — Jose Manuel Rodriguez Delgado
Army General Quotes
Thus the skilful general conducts his army just as though he were leading a single man, willy-nilly, by the hand. — Sun Tzu
It is tragic that the Fuehrer should have the whole nation behind him with the single exception of the Army generals. In my opinion it is only by action that they can now atone for their faults of lack of character and discipline. — Alfred Jodl
It has been said by a certain general, that the first object in the establishment of an army ought to be making provision for the belly, that being the basis and foundation of all operations. — Frederick the Great
I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.
A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied ten minutes later. — George S. Patton
Live for something rather than die for nothing. — George S. Patton
On the evening of December 25, General Washington in a most severe season crossed the Delaware with a part of his army, then reduced to less than 2000 men in the whole. — Mercy Otis Warren
As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome.
If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is to blame. But if his orders are clear, and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their officers. — Sun Tzu
National armies fight nations, royal armies fight their like, the first obey a mob, always demented and the second a king, generally sane. — J. F. C. Fuller
When contemplating General Eisenhower winning the Presidential election, Truman said, Hell sit here, and hell say, Do this! Do that! And nothing will happen. Poor Ikeit wont be a bit like the Army. Hell find it very frustrating. — Harry S. Truman
The histories which we have of the great tragedy give no idea of the general wretchedness, the squalid misery, which entered into every individual life in the region given up to the war. Where the armies camped the destruction was absolute. — Rebecca Harding Davis
Military Soldier Quotes
Soldiers' bellies are not satisfied with empty promises and hopes. — Peter The Great
I am a Soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight. — George S. Patton
American soldiers in battle don't fight for what some president says on T.V., they don't fight for mom, apple pie, the American flag...they fight for one another. — Hal Moore
I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his honour and that of his country, Victory or death. — William B. Travis
The highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is bearing arms. — George S. Patton
Either I will come back after hoisting the Tricolor, or I will come back wrapped in it, but I will be back for sure. — Vikram Batra
The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him. — Gilbert K. Chesterton
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
Don't forget, incoming fire has the right of way. — Clint Smith
General Flynn was investigating money laundering through military operations at the Pentagon before the Deep State had him removed. Today the Pentagon cannot account for $3-Trillion. We are spending over a Trillion dollars plus to service our sovereign debt. Flynn was right! — Douglas Macgregor
Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise, for the result is waste of time and general stagnation. — Sun Tzu
To say that you now trust the Russian military command and control system because some Russian general told you from the bottom of his heart that's the case, strikes me as most unrealistic. — William Odom
As far as Saddam Hussein being a great military strategist, he is neither a strategist, nor is he schooled in the operational arts, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general, nor is he a soldier. Other than that, he's a great military man, I want you to know that. — Norman Schwarzkopf
To say that you now trust the Russian military command and control system because some Russian general told you from the bottom of his heart that's the case, strikes me as most unrealistic. — William Eldridge Odom
I'd like to have two armies: one for display with lovely guns, tanks, little soldiers, staffs, distinguished and doddering generals, and dear little regimental officers who would be deeply concerned over their general's bowel movements or their colonel's piles, an army that would be shown for a modest fee on every fairground in the country. — Jean Larteguy
The constitution ought to secure a genuine militia and guard against a select militia. ...All regulations tending to render this general militia useless and defenseless, by establishing select corps of militia, or distinct bodies of military men, not having permanent interests and attachments to the community ought to be avoided. — Richard Henry Lee
No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique. — Sun Tzu
JAG is an acronym for the Judge Advocate General, which is the judicial system of the military. — Catherine Bell
The word 'security' is a broad, vague generality whose contours should not be invoked to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment. The guarding of military and diplomatic secrets at the expense of informed representative government provides no real security. — Hugo Black
We have women in the military, but they don't put us in the front lines. They don't know if we can fight, if we can kill. I think we can. All the general has to do is walk over to the women and say, 'You see the enemy over there? They say you look fat in those uniforms.' — Elayne Boosler
It is God's job to forgive Osama Bin Laden. It is our job to arrange a face to face meeting. — Norman Schwarzkopf
President [ Dwight] Eisenhower warned us, five star general, he said watch out for the military-industrial complex. That's a threat to our freedom, to our economy, and what we have now is a gigantic taxpayer draining empire that is devouring itself, which, as you say, it's creating more resistance, more fighting, against us oversees. — Ralph Nader
Heroism, or military glory, is much admired by the generality of mankind. They consider it as the most sublime kind of merit. Menof cool reflection are not so sanguine in their praises of it. — David Hume
Did you follow what [General Yehoshafat] Harkabi wrote? Formerly of the Israeli military intelligence service. Remember him? Did you follow what he wrote? He said that it was for the sake of the existence of Israel that we have to accept the rights of the Palestinians to have their independent state. — Yasser Arafat
...several of the first presidents, including Jefferson and Madison, generally refused to issue public prayers, despite importunings to do so. Under pressure, Madison relented in the War Of 1812, but held to his belief that chaplains shouldn't be appointed to the military or be allowed to open Congress. — James Madison
I'd rather have a German Division in front of me than a French one behind. — George S. Patton
Official Washington cannot tell the American people that the real purpose of its gargantuan military expenditures and belligerent interventions is to make the world safe for General Motors, General Electric, General Dynamics, and all the other generals. — Michael Parenti
A defensive war is apt to betray us into too frequent detachment. Those generals who have had but little experience attempt to protect every point, while those who are better acquainted with their profession, having only the capital object in view, guard against a decisive blow, and acquiesce in small misfortunes to avoid greater. — Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it. — George S. Patton
It take 15,000 casualties to train a major general. — Ferdinand Foch
The essence of a general's job is to assist in developing a clear sense of purpose . to keep the junk from getting in the way of important things. — Victor Borge
I am the very model of a modern Major-General, I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral, I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical, From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical. — W. S. Gilbert
Blunders are an inescapable feature of war, because choice in military affairs lies generally between the bad and the worse. — Allan Massie
A soldier is he whose blood makes the glory of the general. — Henry George Bohn
We've learned something about President-elect [Donald] Trump's choice for secretary of defense. Lawmakers in Congress intend to proper debate over whether retired General James Mattis meets a requirement for civilian control of the military. — Steve Inskeep
Only great and general battles can produce great results — Carl von Clausewitz
Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination. The bloody solution of the crisis, the effort for the destruction of the enemy's forces, is the first-born son of war. Only great and general battles can produce great results. Blood is the price of victory. — Carl von Clausewitz
Dead battles, like dead generals, hold the military mind in their dead grip. — Barbara Tuchman
You get a lawyer whether you're in a military tribunal or whether you're in a federal court, number one. The attorney general decided that the court with the biggest - with the greatest venue, with the best jurisdiction was the New York court. That was the right decision to make. — Joe Biden
I've decided that the political context is such that the only way reform will finally come about in the Russian military is that the deterioration goes beyond the point to which these old generals can stand up there and resist it. — William Odom
A beaten general is disgraced forever. — Ferdinand Foch
I've decided that the political context is such that the only way reform will finally come about in the Russian military is that the deterioration goes beyond the point to which these old generals can stand up there and resist it. — William Eldridge Odom
Live for something rather than die for nothing. —George Patton — Cindy Gerard
My advice for the next commander in chief: Listen to your military advisers. Listen to your generals. They are the experts. Even if you have a commander in chief who has served in the military, that person still isn’t engaged on a daily basis. The generals will know best. — Ralph Abraham
Soldiers win battles and generals get the medals. — Napoleon Bonaparte
I worked with Congress on legislation, gave speeches to CEOs, military generals and Hollywood executives. But I also worked to ensure that my efforts would resonate with kids and families - and that meant doing things in a creative and unconventional way. So, yeah, I planted a garden and hula-hooped on the White House lawn with kids. — Michelle Obama
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