George S. Patton Quotes

War As I Knew It (1947) "Reflections and Suggestions"

As quoted in "The True Story of The Patton Prayer" by James H. O'Neill in Review of the News (6 October 1971) http://www.pattonhq.com/prayer.html
Context: There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by praying. Any great military operation takes careful planning, or thinking. Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: that's working. But between the plan and the operation there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes. Some people call that getting the breaks; I call it God. God has His part, or margin in everything, That's where prayer comes in.

Speech to the Third Army (1944)
Context: Every man is scared in his first battle. If he says he's not, he's a liar. Some men are cowards but they fight the same as the brave men or they get the hell slammed out of them watching men fight who are just as scared as they are. The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared. Some men get over their fright in a minute under fire. For some, it takes an hour. For some, it takes days. But a real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood. Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base.

Speech to the Third Army (1944)
Context: Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight.

Speech to the Third Army (1944)

This is almost always attributed to US Ambassador Francis Meehan http://www.nndb.com/people/060/000121694/, though without citations, and only very rarely to Patton.
Misattributed

Remark to his nephew about his copious profanity, quoted in The Unknown Patton (1983) by Charles M. Province, p. 184
Context: When I want my men to remember something important, to really make it stick, I give it to them double dirty. It may not sound nice to some bunch of little old ladies at an afternoon tea party, but it helps my soldiers to remember. You can't run an army without profanity; and it has to be eloquent profanity. An army without profanity couldn't fight its way out of a piss-soaked paper bag. … As for the types of comments I make, sometimes I just, By God, get carried away with my own eloquence.

Speech at the Copley Plaza Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts (7 June 1945), quoted in Patton : Ordeal and Triumph (1970) by Ladislas Farago

notes on combat written by General Patton were published in Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 30, July 29, 1943. http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt09/patton-notes-on-combat.html

Stanza 1 of "Absolute War" a poem composed by Patton in July 1944, during Operation Cobra as quoted in The Patton Papers 1940-1945 (1996) edited by Martin Blumenson p. 492
Context: Now in war we are confronted with conditions which are strange
If we accept them we will never win.
Since being realistic, as in mundane combats fistic
We will get a bloody nose and that's a sin.

Through A Glass, Darkly (1918)
Context: Through the travail of the ages,
Midst the pomp and toil of war,
Have I fought and strove and perished
Countless times upon this star. In the form of many people
In all panoplies of time
Have I seen the luring vision
Of the Victory Maid, sublime.

Spoken by George C. Scott in the film Patton.
Variants:
No man ever won a war by dying for his country. Wars were won by making the other poor bastard die for his.
You don't win a war by dying for your country. You win a war by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his.
War is not meant to be you dying for your country-it is by making the other bastard die for his.
Misattributed

Cavalry Journal (September 1933)

Letter to Beatrice (29 September 1945), published in The Patton Papers (1996), edited by Martin Blumenson Vol. 2 , p. 786 https://books.google.com/books?id=XGP_AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA786

Attributed as a quote in Charles W. Hudlin, "Morality and the Military Profession: Problems and Solutions", Military Ethics (National Defense University Press, 1987) http://books.google.com/books?id=B9EvXhH1ZVAC&pg=PA83; but Hudlin cites the biographical dramatization Patton (1970 film) which does not purport to use Patton's actual words.
Misattributed

Conference with his officers (1 August 1944), as quoted in General Patton : A Soldiers Life (2002) by Stanley P. Hirshon, p. 502

Speech to the Third Army (1944)
Context: From time to time there will be some complaints that we are pushing our people too hard. I don't give a good Goddamn about such complaints. I believe in the old and sound rule that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood. The harder we push, the more Germans we will kill. The more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that.

As quoted in Liberalism is a Mental Disorder : Savage Solutions‎ (2005) by Michael Savage, Ch. 1 : More Patton, Less Patent Leather, p. 4

Through A Glass, Darkly (1918)
Context: So as through a glass, and darkly
The age long strife I see
Where I fought in many guises,
Many names, but always me. And I see not in my blindness
What the objects were I wrought,
But as God rules o'er our bickerings
It was through His will I fought. So forever in the future,
Shall I battle as of yore,
Dying to be born a fighter,
But to die again, once more.

Letter to Dwight D. Eisenhower (1942); to this Eisenhower replied: "I don't have the slightest trouble naming the hellions I'd like to have you shoot; my problem is to figure out some way of getting you to the place you can do it." as quoted in Eisenhower : A Soldier's Life (2003) by Carlo D'Este, p. 301
Context: Of all the many talks I had in Washington, none gave me such pleasure as that with you. There were two reasons for this. In the first place, you are about my oldest friend. In the second place, your self-assurance and to me, at least, demonstrated ability, give me a great feeling of confidence about the future … and I have the utmost confidence that through your efforts we will eventually beat the hell out of those bastards — "You name them; I'll shoot them!"

Letter to Dwight D. Eisenhower (1942); to this Eisenhower replied: "I don't have the slightest trouble naming the hellions I'd like to have you shoot; my problem is to figure out some way of getting you to the place you can do it." as quoted in Eisenhower : A Soldier's Life (2003) by Carlo D'Este, p. 301
Context: Of all the many talks I had in Washington, none gave me such pleasure as that with you. There were two reasons for this. In the first place, you are about my oldest friend. In the second place, your self-assurance and to me, at least, demonstrated ability, give me a great feeling of confidence about the future … and I have the utmost confidence that through your efforts we will eventually beat the hell out of those bastards — "You name them; I'll shoot them!"

War As I Knew It (1947); also quoted in Patton's One-Minute Messages: Tactical Leadership Skills for Business Management (1995) by Charles M. Province, p. 88
Context: There is a great deal of talk about loyalty from the bottom to the top. Loyalty from the top down is even more necessary and much less prevalent. One of the most frequently noted characteristics of great men who have remained great is loyalty to their subordinates.

Speech to the Third Army (1944)
Context: From time to time there will be some complaints that we are pushing our people too hard. I don't give a good Goddamn about such complaints. I believe in the old and sound rule that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood. The harder we push, the more Germans we will kill. The more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that.

Letter to Frederick Ayers (5 May 1943), published in The Patton Papers 1940-1945 (1996) edited by Martin Blumenson, p. 242
Context: The publicity I have been getting, a good deal of which is untrue, and the rest of it ill considered, has done me more harm than good. The only way you get on in this profession is to have the reputation of doing what you are told as thoroughly as possible. So far I have been able to accomplish that, and I believe I have gotten quite a reputation from not kicking at peculiar assignments.

Speech to the Third Army (1944)
Context: Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we can go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin and Tokyo. And when we get to Berlin, I am personally going to shoot that paper hanging son-of-a-bitch Hitler. Just like I'd shoot a snake!

Indicating some of his speculations about reincarnation, in a letter to his mother from Chamlieu, France during World War I (20 November 1917)
Context: I wonder if I could have been here before as I drive up the Roman road the Theater seems familiar — perhaps I headed a legion up that same white road... I passed a chateau in ruins which I possibly helped escalade in the middle ages. There is no proof nor yet any denial. We were, We are, and we will be.

Speech to the Third Army (1944)
Context: Every man is scared in his first battle. If he says he's not, he's a liar. Some men are cowards but they fight the same as the brave men or they get the hell slammed out of them watching men fight who are just as scared as they are. The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared. Some men get over their fright in a minute under fire. For some, it takes an hour. For some, it takes days. But a real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood. Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base.

Letter to Frederick Ayers (5 May 1943), published in The Patton Papers 1940-1945 (1996) edited by Martin Blumenson, p. 243
Context: It is rather interesting how you get used to death. I have had to go to inspect the troops in which case you run a very good chance — or I should say a reasonable chance — of being bombed or shot at from the air, and shelled or shot at from the ground.
I had the same experience every day which is for the first half-hour the palms of my hands sweat and I feel depressed. Then, if one hits near you, it seems to break the spell and you don't notice them anymore. Going back in the evening over the same ground and at a time when the shelling and bombing are usually heavier, you become so used to it you never think about it.

The War as I Knew it https://books.google.com/books?id=2A4BPpDQTfcC&pg=PA49 (1974), p.49.

Diaries, General Patton : A Soldier's Life (2002) by Stanley P. Hirshson, p. 661

Letter (3 March 1944), later published in War As I Knew It (1947) Similar expressions were also used in his famous "Speech to the Third Army" in June 1944. The phrase is similar to one attributed to Erwin Rommel, "Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, and brains saves both", and to an even older one by August Willich: "A drop of sweat on the drill ground will save many drops of blood on the battlefield" from The Army: Standing Army or National Army? (1866)

Speech to the Third Army (1944)

Quoted in 50 Military Leaders Who Changed the World‎ (2007) by William Weir, p. 173
Unsourced variant: Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man. Anything built by man, can be destroyed by him.

War as I knew it (1947), as cited in Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations, By Hugh Rawson, Margaret Miner, p. 258 https://books.google.com/books?id=whg05Z4Nwo0C&pg=PA258(via books.google.com).

Mike Province, founder and president of The Patton Society http://www.pattonhq.com/ calls this an urban legend and in the Texas A&M Battalion (2 October 2006) http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2006/10/02/Aggielife/Traditionally.Speaking-2319058.shtml?sourcedomain=www.thebatt.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com is quoted as saying "I've gotten e-mails and questions regarding that quote for several years... People will use it with Texas Aggies, The Citadel, Virginia Military Institute and even Clemson. All of these schools want to be linked to Patton... Anything is possible... I honestly don't believe he said it, because I've heard too many people say that he said it about their school. But if anyone out there can find proof that he said it, I'd love to hear about it and get it out there." If any school has a claim, it is the Virginia Military Institute; Patton's grandfather, grand-uncles, and his father all were VMI graduates. Patton himself spent a year at VMI before going to West Point. VMI has many George Patton relics donated by his family in its museum. Please also note that the photo of Patton as a cadet has him wearing a VMI coatee and cap.
Misattributed

As quoted in After the Holocaust: Rebuilding Jewish Lives in Post War Germany (1997) by Michael Brenner

Spoken by George C. Scott in the film Patton, portraying his defeat of what he thought were forces under the command of Erwin Rommel; however, the book portrayed in that film is purely fictional — Rommel never finished the book he was writing on tank warfare, but did write a book on his experiences in WW I. It was widely read, regarded a classic of modern military tactics, and published in abbreviated form for study by US army officers.
Misattributed

On the gasoline supplies for his tanks, as quoted in The Struggle for Europe‎ (1972) by Chester Wilmot, p. 473

Diary, October 30, 1942, published in The Patton Papers 1940-1945 https://books.google.com/books?id=zaRKDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT79 (1996), p. 79.

Letter to Dwight D. Eisenhower (May 1942), as quoted in Eisenhower : A Soldier's Life (2003) by Carlo D'Este, p. 301

As quoted in The Unknown Patton (1983) by Charles M. Province, p. 100

Speech at the Hatch Memorial Shell, Boston, Massachusetts (7 June 1945), quoted in The Last Days of Patton (1981), p. 85, by Ladislas Farago and The Patton Papers: 1940-1945 (1974), p. 721, edited by Martin Blumenson.

As quoted in I Remember General Patton's Principles (1984) by Porter B. Williamson, p. 174

Through A Glass, Darkly (1918)

Quoted in How We Are Changed by War: A Study of Letters and Diaries from Colonial Conflicts to Operation Iraqi Freedom (2010) http://books.google.com/books?id=h-Fens34378C&pg=PA70 by D.C. Gill, p. 70

Through A Glass, Darkly (1918)

This is actually a translation of a statement by Lao Zi from the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing). Patton may have used a similar or identical expression, perhaps quoting the book.
Misattributed

Speech to the Third Army (1944)

Letter to Frederick Ayers (5 May 1943), published in The Patton Papers 1940-1945 (1996) edited by Martin Blumenson, p. 243

This is cited to Patton in Patton's Principles : A Handbook for Managers Who Mean It! (1982) by Porter B. Williamson as well as Leadership (1990) by William Safire and Leonard Safir, p. 47, but is also cited to Erwin Rommel‎ from his Infanterie Greift An [Infantry Attacks] (1937) in World War II : The Definitive Visual History (2009) by Richard Holmes, p. 128, and Timelines of History (2011) by DK Publishing, p. 392
Disputed

During a March 1945 meeting with Bill Mauldin, complaining about his "Willy and Joe" cartoons; as quoted in The Brass Ring (1971) by Bill Mauldin

Misattributed by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger on Fox News. Patton commanded French troops, the 2nd Armored Division commanded by Philippe Leclerc, integrated in the Third Army, and had rocky but friendly relations with the French general. For instance, on August, 15 1944 Patton wrote in his diary: "Leclerc came in very much excited. He said, among other things, that if he were not allowed to advance on Paris, he would resign. I told him in my best French that he was a baby and said I had left him in the most dangerous place on the front. We parted friends"
Misattributed

Letter to Beatrice (29 September 1945), published in The Patton Papers (1996), edited by Martin Blumenson, Vol. 2 , p. 787

Though Patton commissioned this prayer and ordered 250,000 copies of it printed with his signature, it was actually composed by Chief Chaplain James H. O'Neill http://www.pattonhq.com/prayer.html Review of the News (6 October 1971)
Misattributed

In a letter to Beatrice (22 August 1943), published in The Patton Papers 1940-1945 (1996) edited by Martin Blumenson https://books.google.com/books?id=eV2pRL7arKkC&pg=PT239&dq=Moral+courage+is+the+most+valuable+and+usually+the+most+absent+characteristic+in+men.&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjPrbHtvsXVAhXBRyYKHUz6CAw4ChDoAQhCMAU#v=onepage&q=Moral%20courage%20is%20the%20most%20valuable%20and%20usually%20the%20most%20absent%20characteristic%20in%20men.&f=false

Reply to a message from General Dwight Eisenhower to bypass the German city of Trier because it would take four divisions to capture it (2 March 1945), as quoted in the Introduction to War as I Knew it (1947) by George Smith Patton, Jr., with Paul Donal Harkins, p. 20

Speech to the Third Army (1944)

As quoted in The Unknown Patton (1983) by Charles M. Province, p. 165

As quoted in Pocket Patriot : Quotes from American Heroes (2005) edited by Kelly Nickell, p. 157

Speech to the Third Army (1944)

Statement (8 August 1945), as quoted in General Patton : A Soldier's Life (2002) by Stanley P. Hirshson, p. 650
Source: [Charles M. Province, The unknown Patton, https://books.google.com/books?id=yXshAAAAMAAJ&q=The+difficulty+in+understanding+the+Russian+is+that+we+do+not+take+cognizance+of+the+fact+that+he+is+not+a+European,+but+an+Asiatic,+and+therefore+thinks+deviously.+We+can+no+more+understand+a+Russian+than+a+Chinese+or+a+Japanese,+and+from+what+I+have+seen+of+them,+I+have+no+particular+desire+to+understand+them+except+to+ascertain+how+much+lead+or+iron+it+takes+to+kill+them.+In+addition+to+his+other+amiable+characteristics,+the+Russian+has+no+regard+for+human+life+and+they+are+all+out+sons-of-bitches,+barbarians,+and+chronic+drunks.&dq=The+difficulty+in+understanding+the+Russian+is+that+we+do+not+take+cognizance+of+the+fact+that+he+is+not+a+European,+but+an+Asiatic,+and+therefore+thinks+deviously.+We+can+no+more+understand+a+Russian+than+a+Chinese+or+a+Japanese,+and+from+what+I+have+seen+of+them,+I+have+no+particular+desire+to+understand+them+except+to+ascertain+how+much+lead+or+iron+it+takes+to+kill+them.+In+addition+to+his+other+amiable+characteristics,+the+Russian+has+no+regard+for+human+life+and+they+are+all+out+sons-of-bitches,+barbarians,+and+chronic+drunks.&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAmoVChMItdm-0viRyQIVyeQmCh2khgS9, 1983, Hippocrene Books, 978-0-88254-641-4, 99]
Source: [English Teacher X, Vodkaberg: Nine Years in Russia, https://books.google.com/books?id=ZR2TBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2&dq=The+difficulty+in+understanding+the+Russian+is+that+we+do+not+take+cognizance+of+the+fact+that+he+is+not+a+European,+but+an+Asiatic,+and+therefore+thinks+deviously.+We+can+no+more+understand+a+Russian+than+a+Chinese+or+a+Japanese,+and+from+what+I+have+seen+of+them,+I+have+no+particular+desire+to+understand+them+except+to+ascertain+how+much+lead+or+iron+it+takes+to+kill+them.+In+addition+to+his+other+amiable+characteristics,+the+Russian+has+no+regard+for+human+life+and+they+are+all+out+sons-of-bitches,+barbarians,+and+chronic+drunks.&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAGoVChMItdm-0viRyQIVyeQmCh2khgS9#v=onepage&q=The%20difficulty%20in%20understanding%20the%20Russian%20is%20that%20we%20do%20not%20take%20cognizance%20of%20the%20fact%20that%20he%20is%20not%20a%20European%2C%20but%20an%20Asiatic%2C%20and%20therefore%20thinks%20deviously.%20We%20can%20no%20more%20understand%20a%20Russian%20than%20a%20Chinese%20or%20a%20Japanese%2C%20and%20from%20what%20I%20have%20seen%20of%20them%2C%20I%20have%20no%20particular%20desire%20to%20understand%20them%20except%20to%20ascertain%20how%20much%20lead%20or%20iron%20it%20takes%20to%20kill%20them.%20In%20addition%20to%20his%20other%20amiable%20characteristics%2C%20the%20Russian%20has%20no%20regard%20for%20human%20life%20and%20they%20are%20all%20out%20sons-of-bitches%2C%20barbarians%2C%20and%20chronic%20drunks.&f=false, English Teacher X, 2–, GGKEY:2DPNH0X04GB]
Source: [Evi Martyn, Captain Philip Markopoulos a Patton's Hero: An Incredible True Story When Fate and Destiny Outpower Weapons, https://books.google.com/books?id=IdkUq5EixE8C&pg=PA176&dq=The+difficulty+in+understanding+the+Russian+is+that+we+do+not+take+cognizance+of+the+fact+that+he+is+not+a+European,+but+an+Asiatic,+and+therefore+thinks+deviously.+We+can+no+more+understand+a+Russian+than+a+Chinese+or+a+Japanese,+and+from+what+I+have+seen+of+them,+I+have+no+particular+desire+to+understand+them+except+to+ascertain+how+much+lead+or+iron+it+takes+to+kill+them.+In+addition+to+his+other+amiable+characteristics,+the+Russian+has+no+regard+for+human+life+and+they+are+all+out+sons-of-bitches,+barbarians,+and+chronic+drunks.&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAWoVChMItdm-0viRyQIVyeQmCh2khgS9#v=onepage&q=The%20difficulty%20in%20understanding%20the%20Russian%20is%20that%20we%20do%20not%20take%20cognizance%20of%20the%20fact%20that%20he%20is%20not%20a%20European%2C%20but%20an%20Asiatic%2C%20and%20therefore%20thinks%20deviously.%20We%20can%20no%20more%20understand%20a%20Russian%20than%20a%20Chinese%20or%20a%20Japanese%2C%20and%20from%20what%20I%20have%20seen%20of%20them%2C%20I%20have%20no%20particular%20desire%20to%20understand%20them%20except%20to%20ascertain%20how%20much%20lead%20or%20iron%20it%20takes%20to%20kill%20them.%20In%20addition%20to%20his%20other%20amiable%20characteristics%2C%20the%20Russian%20has%20no%20regard%20for%20human%20life%20and%20they%20are%20all%20out%20sons-of-bitches%2C%20barbarians%2C%20and%20chronic%20drunks.&f=false, 2009, AuthorHouse, 978-1-4389-8409-4, 176–]
Source: http://www.military-history.us/2014/03/now-would-be-a-good-time-for-a-bit-of-revisionism/

It is unknown if Patton ever said these precise words. However, Anthony Cave Brown notes https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/36062/did-gen-patton-say-we-defeated-the-wrong-enemy/36063#36063 in Bodyguard of Lies Volume II that "Patton was relieved of command of the 3rd Army by Eisenhower just after the end of the war for stating publicly that America had been fighting the wrong enemy— Germany instead of Russia", so it is at least an accurate paraphrase. For further discussion, see relevant threads on skeptics.stackexchange.com https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/36062/did-gen-patton-say-we-defeated-the-wrong-enemy and /r/AskHistorians https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/640pg5/what_did_general_george_s_patton_mean_when_he/.
Disputed

Source: George S. Patton's speech to the Third Army https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton%27s_speech_to_the_Third_Army

Source: George S. Patton's speech to the Third Army https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton%27s_speech_to_the_Third_Army