Thomas Jackson: Quotes about time

“Captain, my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me. Captain, that is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave.”

Thomas Jackson

Speaking to Captain John D. Imboden (24 July 1861), as quoted in Stonewall Jackson As Military Commander (2000) by John Selby, p. 25; sometimes quoted as "My religious beliefs teach me..."

Death , Men , God , Way

“The time for war has not yet come, but it will come, and that soon; and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard.”

Thomas Jackson

Speech to cadets at the Virginia Military Institute (March 1861); as quoted in Mighty Stonewall (1957) by Frank E. Vandiver, p. 131; this has sometimes been paraphrased as "When war does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard."

War , Time , Drawing

“Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off unnecessary actions.”

Thomas Jackson

Misattributed, Jackson's personal book of maxims

Time

“Once you get them running, you stay right on top of them, and that way a small force can defeat a large one every time.”

Thomas Jackson

Q him, never let up in the pursuit so long as your men have strength to follow…
Source: As quoted in The Civil War : An Illustrated History (1990) by Geoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns, and Ric Burns, p. 272

Way , Time

“War means fighting. The business of the soldier is to fight. Armies are not called out to dig trenches, to throw up breastworks, to live in camps, but to find the enemy and strike him; to invade his country, and do him all possible damage in the shortest possible time. This will involve great destruction of life and property while it lasts; but such a war will of necessity be of brief continuance, and so would be an economy of life and property in the end. To move swiftly, strike vigorously, and secure all the fruits of victory is the secret of successful war.”

Thomas Jackson

As quoted in Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War (1904) by George Francis Robert Henderson http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12233, Ch. 25 : The Soldier and the Man, p. 481
Q him, never let up in the pursuit so long as your men have strength to follow…]]

Time , Success , Business , Country

“Always mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy, if possible; and when you strike and overcome him, never let up in the pursuit so long as your men have strength to follow; for an army routed, if hotly pursued, becomes panic-stricken, and can then be destroyed by half their number. The other rule is, never fight against heavy odds, if by any possible maneuvering you can hurl your own force on only a part, and that the weakest part, of your enemy and crush it. Such tactics will win every time, and a small army may thus destroy a large one in detail, and repeated victory will make it invincible.”

Thomas Jackson

As quoted in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (1884 - 1888) edited by Robert Underwood Clarence C. Buel, Vol. II, p. 297
Q him, never let up in the pursuit so long as your men have strength to follow…]]

Time , Victory , Fight , Making love

“We must make this campaign an exceedingly active one. Only thus can a weaker country cope with a stronger; it must make up in activity what it lacks in strength. A defensive campaign can only be made successful by taking the aggressive at the proper time. Napoleon never waited for his adversary to become fully prepared, but struck him the first blow.”

Thomas Jackson

Source: Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (1891), Ch. 22 : The Last Happy Days — Chancellorsville — 1863, p. 429

Time , Waiting , Success , Country