1. Quotes
  2. Authors
  3. Alexander Suvorov

Alexander Suvorov Quotes

Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky, Prince of Italy , was a Russian general and military theorist in service of the Russian Empire and the Habsburg monarchy. He was Count of Rymnik , Graf of the Holy Roman Empire , Feldmarschall of the Holy Roman Empire , Prince of the Kingdom of Sardinia , Grand marshal of the Kingdom of Sardinia , Prince or Knyaz of the Russian Empire , Field marshal and the last Generalissimo of the Russian Empire. Suvorov is considered one of the greatest military commanders in Russian history and one of the great generals of the early modern period. He was awarded numerous medals, titles, and honors by Russia, as well as by other countries. Suvorov secured Russia's expanded borders and renewed military prestige and left a legacy of theories on warfare. He was the author of several military manuals, the most famous being The Science of Victory , and was noted for several of his sayings. He never lost a single battle he commanded, and his military record is extensive; Suvorov won in a total of 63 battles without suffering a major defeat. He raised Russian military glory to a height to which it had never reached. Several military academies, monuments, villages, museums, and orders in Russia are dedicated to him.

Born in Moscow, he studied military history as a young boy and joined the Imperial Russian Army at the age of 17. Suvorov was promoted to colonel in 1762 for his numerous successes on the battlefield during the Seven Years' War.When war broke out with the Bar Confederation in 1768, Suvorov, commanding a detachment of Ivan Weymarn's army, captured the Polish capital Kraków, then defeated the Poles of Casimir Pulaski at Orzechowo, routed general Dumouriez near Lanckorona, and subsequently overthrew the Polish forces at Stołowicze. These and other victories marked the start of the partitions of Poland. He was promoted to general and next fought in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 under Saltykov's supervision, taking Turtukaya twice and winning a decisive victory at the battle of Kozludzha.

In 1774 Suvorov interrogated the captured Yemelyan Pugachev and in the same year married into the well-connected Golitsyn family. Four years later, he averted a Russo-Turkish war. In 1783 suppressed the Nogai uprising. Becoming the General of the Infantry in 1783, he led Russian forces in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 under the command of Potemkin and participated in the siege of Ochakov, as well as victories at Kinburn and Focșani.

Suvorov and the Austro-Bavarian general Josias of Coburg then won one of the most decisive successes in their career at the battle of Rymnik, and afterwards Suvorov crushingly defeated the Ottomans in the storming of Izmail, which is commemorated as one of the days of Russian military honour and immortalized with the song "Let the Thunder of Victory Rumble!". For Suvorov's accomplishments, he was made a Count of both the Russian Empire and Holy Roman Empire, having been given the honorific title Rymniksky .

In 1794, while in Repnin's army, he put down the Polish uprising, defeating them at the battle of Brest and others, as well as at the storming of Praga, a faubourg of Warsaw.

While a close associate of Empress Catherine the Great, Suvorov often quarreled with her son and heir apparent, Paul. After Catherine died of a stroke in 1796, Paul I was crowned Emperor and dismissed Suvorov for disregarding his orders. However, he was forced to reinstate Suvorov and make him a field marshal at the insistence of the coalition allies for the French Revolutionary Wars.Suvorov was given command of the Austro-Russian army and the Italian campaign of 1799 began. He captured Milan, Turin, and thereafter drove the French out of Italy through his triumphs at Cassano , the Trebbia River, and Novi. The Italian strongholds of Alessandria and Mantua fell. Suvorov was promoted to a new title: he was made a "Prince of Italy" for his deeds, and he became known as the Prince of Italy, Count Suvorov-Rymniksky. Afterwards, he was ordered to head Swiss campaign to assist allied operations. He became cut off by André Masséna and later surrounded in the Swiss Alps by the French after an allied Russo-Austrian army under Alexander Korsakov and Friedrich von Hotze, which he was supposed to reinforce, suffered defeats at Zurich and on the Linth River. Suvorov led the strategic withdrawal of exhausted and ill-supplied Russian troops dealing with French forces three times the size of his own: 27,000 against 77,000 in the theater of operations. He broke through the French trap and battled his way across the central spine of the Alps to the Alpine Rhine, marching thence all the way to Lake Constance; as a result of all this, the army returned from the Helvetic Republic to Russia with minimal casualties. For this exploit, he became the fourth Generalissimo of Russia. He died in 1800 of illness in Saint Petersburg.

Suvorov was loved by Russian soldiers throughout his whole military life. He was respected for his truthfulness and honest service.Micheal Clodfelter, in his work "Warfare and Armed Conflicts", described Suvorov as the best general the French First Republic ever fought . Philip Longworth noted that he was never defeated and that he was "one of those rare generals who were consistently successful despite suffering from considerable disadvantages". Wikipedia  

✵ 13. November 1730 – 6. May 1800   •   Other names Александр Суворов
Alexander Suvorov photo
Alexander Suvorov: 24   quotes 31   likes

Famous Alexander Suvorov Quotes

“To surprise the enemy is to defeat him.”

Alexander Suvorov

As Military Adviser in China - Page 245 by Aleksandr Ivanovich Cherepanov - China - 1982.

“Drill your soldiers well, and give them a pattern yourself.”

Alexander Suvorov

Quoted in W. Lyon Blease, "Suvorof," 1926.

“As long as the enemy fights he must be beaten relentlessly, but a defeated enemy and especially the civilian population must be treated generously.”

Alexander Suvorov

Yesterday and Today, 1917-1967: Contemporaries Report on the Progress of German Soviet Friendship - Page 105 - by Verlag Zeit im Bild - Soviet Union - 1967.

“The bullet is a fool, the bayonet is a fine chap.”

Alexander Suvorov

Nauka pobezhdat, Dokumenty, vol. III, p. 504, cited in af.mil http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1986/nov-dec/menning.html.
Compare with "The bullet is a mad thing; only the bayonet knows what it is about." from "The Science of Victory," 1796.

“Die for the Virgin, for your mother the Empress, for the royal family. The Church will pray to God for the dead. The survivor has honor and glory.”

Alexander Suvorov

"The Art of Victory: The Life and Achievements of Field Marshal Suvorov" - Page 217 by Philip Longworth - 1966.

“One minute decides the outcome of a battle, one hour the success of a campaign, one day the fate of empires.”

Alexander Suvorov

other version: One minute can decide the outcome of the battle, one hour - the outcome of the campaign, and one day - the fate of the country.
"Encyclopedia of Russian History" - Page 1504 by James R. Millar - Soviet Union - 2004.

Alexander Suvorov Quotes about victory

“A strong pursuit, give no time for the enemy to think, take advantage of victory, uproot him, cut off his escape route.”

Alexander Suvorov

Quoted in V. Ye. Savkin, "Basic Principles of Operational Art and Tactics," 1972.

“Fire opens the gates of victory.”

Alexander Suvorov

From "The Science of Victory," 1796, quoted in Bragin "Field Marshal Kutuzov," 1944.

“Fortune seized at the right moment gives victory.”

Alexander Suvorov

"Political Affairs" - Page 1005 by Earl Browder.

“One cannot think that blind bravery gives victory over the enemy.”

Alexander Suvorov

The Book of Military Quotations By Peter G. Tsouras - Page 55.

“Judgment of eye, speed and attack are the basis of victory.”

Alexander Suvorov

Readings in Russian History - Page 694 by Warren Bartlett Walsh - Soviet Union - 1959.

Alexander Suvorov Quotes

“When the enemy is driven back, we have failed, and when he is cut off, encircled and dispersed, we have succeeded.”

Alexander Suvorov

"The Book of Military Quotations" - Page 124 by Peter G. Tsouras - Reference - 2005.

“Train hard, fight easy.”

Alexander Suvorov

other version: Hard training - easy combat; easy training - hard combat.
Philip Longworth: The Art of Victory, New York, 1965, cited in af.mil http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1986/nov-dec/menning.html.

Fight , Training

“To me death is better than the defensive.”

Alexander Suvorov

Quoted in W. Lyon Blease, "Suvorof," 1926.

Death

“No battle can be won in the study, and theory without practice is dead.”

Alexander Suvorov

Quoted in K. Ossipov, "Suvorov", 1945.

Study , Dead

“The three military arts. First - Apprehension, how to arrange things in camp, how to march, how to attack, pursue, and strike; for taking up position, final judgement of the enemy's strength, for estimating his intentions. Second - Quickness… This quickness doesn't weary the men. The enemy doesn't expect us, reckons us 100 versts away, and if a long way off to begin with - 200, 300 or more - suddenly we're on him, like snow on the head; his head spins. Attack with what comes up, with what God sends; the cavalry to begin, smash, strike, cut off, don't let slip, hurra! Brothers do miracles! Third - Attack. Leg supports leg. Arm strengthens arm; many men will die in the volley; the enemy has the same weapons, but he doesn't know the Russian bayonet. Extend the line - attack at once with cold steel; extend the line without stopping… the Cossacks to get through everywhere… In two lines is strength; in three, half as much again; the first breaks, the second drives into heaps, the third overthrows.”

Alexander Suvorov

From "The Science of Victory," 1796.

Men , God , Art , Way

“Win with ability, not with numbers.”

Alexander Suvorov

Quoted in Danchenko and Vydrin, Military Pedagogy, 1973.

“The more comfort the less courage there is.”

Alexander Suvorov

"The Book of Military Quotations" By Peter G. Tsouras - Page 101.

Courage

“If we had not driven them into hell… hell would have swallowed us.”

Alexander Suvorov

About the Battle of Kinburn, 1787, from "The Book of Military Quotations" By Peter G. Tsouras - Page 138.

Hell

“It is very difficult to do one's duty. I was considered a barbarian because at the storming of the Praga 7,000 people were killed. Europe says that I am a monster. I myself have read this in the papers, but I would have liked to talk to people about this and ask them: is it not better to finish a war with the death of 7,000 people rather than to drag it on and kill 100,000.”

Alexander Suvorov

About the Polish deaths in the storming of the fortified Praga suburb in Warsaw on October 15, 1794, during the Polish revolt, quotes in Philip Longworth, "The Art of Victory", 1966.

Death , War , People , Reading

“The officers know that I myself am not ashamed to work at this. …Suvorov was Major, and Adjutant, and everything down to Corporal; I myself looked into everything and could teach everybody.”

Alexander Suvorov

Quoted in W. Lyon Blease, "Suvorof," 1926.

“Accustom yourself to tireless activity…”

Alexander Suvorov

"The Book of Military Quotations - Page 23 by Peter G. Tsouras - Reference - 2005.

“Fight the enemy with the weapons he lacks.”

Alexander Suvorov

Quoted in Ossipov, "Suvorov," 1945.

Fight

Similar authors

Catherine the Great photo
Catherine the Great 29
Empress of Russia
George Washington photo
George Washington 186
first President of the United States
Frederick II of Prussia photo
Frederick II of Prussia 36
king of Prussia
Niccolo Machiavelli photo
Niccolo Machiavelli 130
Italian politician, Writer and Author
Molière photo
Molière 72
French playwright and actor
Miguel de Cervantes photo
Miguel de Cervantes 178
Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright
Galileo Galilei photo
Galileo Galilei 70
Italian mathematician, physicist, philosopher and astronomer
Thomas Jefferson photo
Thomas Jefferson 456
3rd President of the United States of America
Banda Singh Bahadur photo
Banda Singh Bahadur 4
Sikh military commander
Tadeusz Kościuszko photo
Tadeusz Kościuszko 3
Polish and American military leader