“Hit first! Hit hard! Keep on hitting!! (The 3 H's)”
p274 https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/274/mode/1up <br class="br"> Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher: 30 quotes3 likes
Famous John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher Quotes
p. 273. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/273/mode/1up <br class="br"> Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
“Favouritism is the secret of efficiency”
The World Crisis, Vol 1, 1911-14 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 74.
“…and you may sleep quietly in your beds.”
Speech at The Royal Academy Banquet, 1903, regarding the threat of invasion. <br class="br"> p. 83. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n113/mode/1up <br class="br">The phrase 'Sleep quiet in your beds' appears in Records, p. 85 https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n116/mode/1up and Memories, p. 202. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/202/mode/1up <br class="br">The phrase 'So sleep easy in your beds' was used for the title for the sixth episode of the BBC documentary The Great War. <br class="br"> Records (1919) https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n0/mode/1up
“It is an historical fact that the British Navy stubbornly resists change.”
p. 177. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n218/mode/1up <br class="br"> Records (1919) https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n0/mode/1up
“The Frontiers of England are the Coasts of the Enemy.”
p. 92. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n123/mode/1up <br class="br"> Records (1919) https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n0/mode/1up
John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher Quotes about war
Fisher of Kilverstone (1973), Ruddock F. Mackay, Clarendon Press, p. 265.
“Can the Army win the war before the Navy loses it?”
The World Crisis, Vol 3, 1916-1918, Part I (1927), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 283.
At the 1st Hague Peace Conference, May 1899<br>Quoted in Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=pEf98V-dbwoC&pg=PA431&lpg=PA431&dq=jacky+fisher+moderation+in+war+imbecility&source=bl&ots=UsLopgdefe&sig=FA9GN8mdf4T3qRbja8zCWvNWlzk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9quGN6abTAhWCJMAKHds2C2cQ6AEISTAH#v=onepage&q&f=false(1991), Robert K. Massie, p. 431.<br>This originated from the notes of the journalist W.T. Stead, quoted in full in Fisher of Kilverstone (1973), Ruddock F. Mackay, Clarendon Press, p. 223. <br class="br">Context: The humanising of war? You might as well talk about the humanizing of Hell!...... The essence of war is violence! Moderation in war is imbecility!..... I am not for war, I am for peace! That is why I am for a supreme Navy....... The supremacy of the British Navy is the best security for peace in the world...... If you rub it in both at home and abroad that you are ready for instant war..... and intend to be first in and hit your enemy in the belly and kick him when he is down and boil your prisoners in oil (if you take any), and torture his women and children, then people will keep clear of you.
“The Essence of War is Violence. Moderation in War is Imbecility.”
p. 75. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n104/mode/1up <br class="br"> Records (1919) https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n0/mode/1up
At the 1st Hague Peace Conference, May 1899<br>Quoted in Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=pEf98V-dbwoC&pg=PA431&lpg=PA431&dq=jacky+fisher+moderation+in+war+imbecility&source=bl&ots=UsLopgdefe&sig=FA9GN8mdf4T3qRbja8zCWvNWlzk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9quGN6abTAhWCJMAKHds2C2cQ6AEISTAH#v=onepage&q&f=false(1991), Robert K. Massie, p. 431.<br>This originated from the notes of the journalist W.T. Stead, quoted in full in Fisher of Kilverstone (1973), Ruddock F. Mackay, Clarendon Press, p. 223. <br class="br">Context: The humanising of war? You might as well talk about the humanizing of Hell!...... The essence of war is violence! Moderation in war is imbecility!..... I am not for war, I am for peace! That is why I am for a supreme Navy....... The supremacy of the British Navy is the best security for peace in the world...... If you rub it in both at home and abroad that you are ready for instant war..... and intend to be first in and hit your enemy in the belly and kick him when he is down and boil your prisoners in oil (if you take any), and torture his women and children, then people will keep clear of you.
John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher Quotes about combat
p. 53. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/53/mode/1up <br class="br"> Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
p. 71. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n100/mode/1up <br class="br"> Records (1919) https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n0/mode/1up
Letter to Churchill, dated 16/1/1912, quoted in The World Crisis, Vol 1, 1911-14 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 140.
John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher Quotes
“Churchill, 9 Sept 1917]]We want brave men! ANY BLOODY FOOL CAN OBEY ORDERS!”
Letter to Admiral Beatty, dated 3 February 1915.
Fear God and Dread Nought: The Correspondence of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher of Kilverstone. Vol 3 (1959), p. 152.
“The luxuries of the present are the necessities of the future.”
Letter to Churchill, dated 16/1/1912, quoted in The World Crisis, Vol 1, 1911-14 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 139.
Context: The luxuries of the present are the necessities of the future. Our grandfathers never had a bath-room....
p. 38 https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/37/mode/1up. <br class="br"> Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up <br class="br">Context: ... Jellicoe had all the Nelsonic attributes except one - he is totally wanting in the great gift of Insubordination. Nelson's greatest achievements were all solely due to his disobeying orders!..... Any fool can obey orders! But it required a Nelson to disobey Sir John Jervis at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, to disregard the order to retire at Copenhagen, to go into the Battle of the Nile by night with no charts against orders, and, to crown all, to enter into the Battle of Trafalgar in a battle formation contrary to all the Sea orders of the time! BLESS HIM! Alas! Jellicoe is saturated with Discipline!
Letter to Churchill, dated 9 Sept 1917. <br class="br">Original held in Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, file reference FISR 1/25/40-41 https://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0014%2FFISR%201%2F25<br>Also mentioned in Memories, p. 78. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/78/mode/1up
“Length of course depends on the stupidity of the class…”
Fisher's notes in the front cover of his own copy of A Short Treatise on Electricity and the Management of Electric Torpedoes (1868)
Fisher of Kilverstone (1973), Ruddock F. Mackay, Clarendon Press, p. 48.
p. 53. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/53/mode/1up <br class="br"> Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
“"Tact" is insulting a man without his knowing it.”
p. 273. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/273/mode/1up <br class="br"> Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
“Even a man's faults may reflect his virtues.”
p. 273. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/273/mode/1up <br class="br"> Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
“I went the whole hog, totus porcus.”
The World Crisis, Vol 2, 1915 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 165. <br class="br">Also mentioned in Memories https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/164/mode/2up, p. 165-6.
“The best scale for an experiment is 12 inches to the foot.”
p. 276. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/276/mode/1up <br class="br"> Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
“As age increases, audacity leaks out and caution comes in.”
p. 90. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n121/mode/1up <br class="br"> Records (1919) https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n0/mode/1up
“Big risks bring big success!”
Letter to Churchill, dated 25/2/1912, quoted in The World Crisis, Vol 1, 1911-14 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 107.
“Never Deny : Never Explain : Never Apologise”
p.275. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/275/mode/1up <br class="br"> Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
“The 3 Requisites for Success - Ruthless, Relentless, Remorseless”
The 3 R's <br class="br"> p. 274. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/274/mode/1up <br class="br">Also The World Crisis, Vol 1, 1911-14 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 73. <br class="br"> Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
Lord Fisher and his Biographer, Great Contempories (1947), Churchill, John Gardner (Liverpool), 3rd Ed. p. 265.
Paraphrased again in The World Crisis, Vol 1, 1911-14 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 73.
Letter to Lord Selborne, dated 13 January 1901, describing Buggins's turn, a system by which appointments or awards are made in rotation rather than on merit.
Fear God and Dread Nought: The Correspondence of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher of Kilverstone. Vol 1 (1953), p. 181.
