George S. Patton was a brilliant military strategist and one of the most famous generals in American history. His quotes are as insightful as they are inspiring, and they provide a unique perspective on leadership and success. Here are some of our favorite George S. Patton quotes.
George S. Patton was born in 1885 in San Gabriel, California. He was a highly successful military general whose career was fraught with personal struggles. Patton was a strong advocate for tank warfare, and his innovations in the use of armor led to several decisive victories on the battlefield. However, Patton’s outspoken personality and controversial comments often resulted in conflict with his superiors.
Patton’s first combat experience came during World War I, when he served with the American Expeditionary Force in France. He saw action at the battles of Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne, and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism during the latter battle. Patton remained in the army after the end of World War I, and he rose through the ranks during the 1920s and 1930s.
In the early days of World War II, General George Patton was one of the most successful American commanders in Europe. He was known for his aggressive tactics and his willingness to take risks. In 1944, Patton was given command of the Third Army, which was responsible for liberating France and driving the Germans out of the country. Patton’s army was also responsible for the liberation of the prisoners at the Buchenwald concentration camp.
47 George S. Patton Quotes
- “The test of success is not what you do when you are on top. Success is how high you bounce when you hit the bottom.”
2. “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?”
3. “I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom”
4. “Do not make excuses, whether it’s your fault or not.”
5. “Say what you mean and mean what you say.”
6. “Better to fight for something than live for nothing.”
7. “Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.”
8. “A man is not measured by how much he can take and stand but by how fast he regains once fallen.”
9. “Always do more than is required of you.”
10. “Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men”
11. “Fear kills more people than death.”
12. “Lead me, follow me, or get the hell out of my way.”
Famous George S. Patton Quotes
13. “Nobody ever defended anything successfully, there is only attack and attack and attack some more”
14. “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.”
15. “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.”
16. “Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.”
17. “If a man does his best, what else is there?”
18. “I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.”
19. “Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”
20. “Take not counsel of your fears”
21. “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed at some indefinite time in the future.”
22. “Do your duty as you see it, and damn the consequences.”
23. “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 Quotes on Leadership and Life
24. “No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair.”
25. “The unleavened bread of knowledge will sustain life, but it is dull fare unless it is leavened with the yeast of personality.”
26. “A leader is a man who can adapt principles to circumstances.”
27. “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.”
28. “May God have mercy for my enemies because I won’t.”
29. “No dumb bastard ever won a war by going out and dying for his country. He won it by making some other dumb bastard die for his country.”
30. “To be a successful soldier, you must know history.”
31. “A real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood. ”
Thought-Provoking George S. Patton Quotes
32. “An active mind cannot exist in an inactive body.”
33. “Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.”
34. “Anyone in any walk of life who is content with mediocrity is untrue to himself and to American tradition.”
35. “Death can be more exciting than life.”
36. “Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.”
37. “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”
38. “Continue to advance until you run out of ammunition. Then, dig in.”
39. “Remember that the enemy is just as frightened as you are and probably more so. They are not supermen”
40. “Success is how high you bounce when you hit the bottom.”
41. “Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack.”
42. “Just drive down that road until you get blown up.”
43. “Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.”
44. “Human beings are made up of flesh and blood, and a miracle fiber called courage.”
45. “To be a good soldier a man must have discipline, self-respect, pride in his unit and in his country, a high sense of duty and obligation to his comrades and to his superiors, and self-confidence bom of demonstrated ability.”
46. “An Army is a team. It lives sleeps eats and fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is pure horse shit”
47. “I am convinced that much more emphasis should be placed on history. The purpose of history is to learn how human beings react when exposed to the danger of wounds or death…”