George Smith Patton Jr.

You may or may not recognize the name.

But with the addition of one simple word, you surely will:

General George Patton.

Old Blood and Guts.

Born November 11, 1885.

Died on this date, December 21, 1945.

Patton is such a figure of legend and presence, it seems foolhardy to frame him in words other than his own.

So, I'll let him do it:

"Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn't give a hoot and hell for a man who lost and laughed."

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

"A piece of spaghetti or a military unit can only be led from the front end."

"Always do everything you ask of those you command."

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

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

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."

"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."

"Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable."

"Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack."

"We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way."

“Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men.”

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

“A man must know his destiny… if he does not recognize it, then he is lost. By this I mean, once, twice, or at the very most, three times, fate will reach out and tap a man on the shoulder… if he has the imagination, he will turn around and fate will point out to him what fork in the road he should take, if he has the guts, he will take it.”

"Better to fight for something than live for nothing."

"I am a strong believer in prayer. There are three ways that men get what they want: by planning, by working, and by praying. I believe that prayer completes that circuit. It is power."

Any one of those comments, I feel, is worth some serious considerin'.


"He was one of those men born to be a soldier, an ideal combat leader whose gallantry and dramatic personality inspired all he commanded to great deeds of valor." --- Dwight D. Eisenhower