“So I asked him why he had poled one of his fields and not the other of his small farm. His reply showed the folly of assuming rationality in human behavior. "The Germans told us farmers to pole all our fields by June 15. My cow never liked that west field so I poled it first." In this case, the whim of a French cow was the controlling factor, not the plans of the German General Staff. As I was about to go, the farmer asked me to wait a moment, went back into the house and returned with a clip of World War I rifle ammunition. He gave it to me with the injunction "Allez me tuer un Boche."”

— Maxwell D. Taylor

"Go kill me a German."
Source: Swords and Plowshares (1972), p. 80-81

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Maxwell D. Taylor 41

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Maxwell D. Taylor 41

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