Respected for their discipline, honor and ability to face the most intense situations in the name of liberty, the U.S. military knows a thing or two about surviving combat. These are some of our favorite quotes from our armed forces.
Combat Quotes
“Engage your brain before you engage your weapon.”
“If I always appear prepared, it is because before entering an undertaking, I have meditated long and have foreseen what might occur. It is not genius where reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I should do in circumstances unexpected by others; it is thought and preparation.”
“If you find yourself in a fair fight – you didn’t plan your mission properly.”
“Wars begin when you will, but they do not end when you please.”
“No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.”
“God is on the side with the best artillery.”
“It would be a joke if the conduct of the victor had to be justified to the vanquished.”
“If you wage war, do it energetically and with severity. This is the only way to make it shorter and consequently less inhuman.”
“So we go on and don't do it, and let the war go on. Over a period of 3 and a half or four years, we did burn down every town in North Korea. And every town in South Korea. And what? Killed off 20% of the Korean population. What I'm trying to say is, if once you make a decision to use military force to solve your problem - then you ought to use it. And use an overwhelming military force. Use too much. And deliberately use too much. So that you don't make an error on the other side, and not quite have enough. And you roll over everything to start with. And you close it down just like that. You save resources. You save lives. Not only your own but the enemies too. And the recovery is quicker. And everybody is back to peaceful existence - hopefully in a shorter period of time.”
“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”
“The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.”
“Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society. The optimist invents the aeroplane, the pessimist the parachute.”