George S. Patton

Never tell people 'how' to do things. Tell them 'what' to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn't thinking.

A leader is a man who can adapt principles to circumstances.

Niech Bóg okaże litość moim wrogom. Bo ja nie.

May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.

A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week.

Wojny toczy się bronią, ale wygrywają je ludzie.

Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men.

If you can't get them to salute when they should salute and wear the clothes you tell them to wear, how are you going to get them to die for their country?

If I do my full duty, the rest will take care of itself.

Jestem żołnierzem, walczę gdzie mi każą i wygrywam, gdzie walczę.

I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight.

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.

Patton wrote this prayer for inclusion in a book for soldiers and sailors; God of our fathers, who by land and sea have ever lead us to victory, please continue your inspiring guidance in this the greatest of all conflicts. Strengthen my soul so that the weakening instinct of self-preservation, which besets all of us in battle, shall not blind me to my duty to my own manhood, to the glory of my calling, and to my responsibility to my fellow soldiers. Grant to our armed forces that disciplined valor and mutual confidence which insures success in war. Let me not mourn for the men who have died fighting, but rather let me be glad that such heroes have lived. If it be my lot to die, let me do so with courage and honor in a manner which will bring the greatest harm to the enemy, and please, oh Lord, protect and guide those I shall leave behind. Give us the victory, Lord.

Battle, he said, was "the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base." Everyone was afraid but only the coward let his fear overcome his sense of duty. "We must not only die gallantly; we must kill devastatingly." Victory was the prize and worth everything. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no one - for I am the meanest motherfucker in the valley.

A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood.

Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.

Be willing to make decisions. That's the most important quality in a good leader. Don't fall victim to what I call the 'ready-aim-aim-aim-aim syndrome.' You must be willing to fire.

No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair.

I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.

Gdy wszyscy myślą podobnie, ktoś tu nie myśli.

If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.

Sztuką jest nie zginąć bohaterską śmiercią, ale zmusić tego drugiego, żeby umarł za swoją ojczyznę.

The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his.